just do you, ok?

At what point in your life do you figure out that you yourself are your number one priority in life? Is there a set age that we tend to figure it out, or is it something that takes years to establish?
There isn't a clear answer to that, at least I don't think

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Too often do we see people running around looking for answers as to what they are supposed to be doing with their lives, who they are supposed to associate themselves with, what is considered a healthy amount of friends and acquaintances, and who we are supposed to wind up with according to the opinion of society.
You are supposed to go to school.
You are supposed to have a good job.
You are supposed to be successful.
You are supposed to be happy, in conjunction with the above.
​Are you, though?

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I think a lot of people have the tendency to compare themselves to the people they graduated with. It's a good base, they're the kids you grew up with, the ones you had your 'firsts' with, the ones you made some of the best memories with. 
Take for instance my grad class. I'm 24 years old, so I graduated in 2009 from a Christian-based private school. High standards. I've already got fellow high-school classmates that are married, have kids, bought their first house, graduated university and have successful jobs (some even moved on to attend medical school, congrats). Meanwhile I'm over here still feeling like I'm trying to figure out a few things.
I know where I want to wind up, that's not a question I am faced with. But the things that make me feel accomplished are doing the laundry or like nailing a new recipe or hitting the books for 6 hours straight. 
So why am I still comparing myself to those who have their lives together?
Because they look happy.
My new years resolution this year was to be happy. What that entailed at the time I'm not so sure; rather I have figured out a few things that already make me 10x happier than I was last year:

• I am no longer afraid to be myself, if you don't like who I am or what I have to offer as a person, I am sorry to hear that 
• I have grown to appreciate the people I associate myself with more than I ever have before
• I am learning to let go of who I was to become who I am
• I have learned to retract my past and work on making it beneficial for my future
• I have learned how to take something positive out of every day and resonate with it, no matter how terrible my day may have seemed
• I cry, a lot. But I have learned that letting go of my tears are simply me letting go of my fears

But most of all...

• I am learning how to let people in. I have walls made of steel and keep to myself, but finding even an ounce of trust in someone means that I have started to develop faith in humanity (praise the Lord)

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When I started my blog, I wanted it to be my safe place that I would have no limitations to what I wrote. I still feel that way, but in the six months of me running this database I have learned that it is a way for me to open up to the world. Society still terrifies me in some ways, but I think this is a pretty good step to learn how to be myself.
Food for thought for those who are reading, I want you to take this with you for the rest of the day:

• What do you do every day, even if its a little quirk, that you aren't afraid of people knowing about? They are what make up your person
• What are some things that happened in your day that made you happy? Think about that before you go to sleep
• What are you holding onto in your past that you are afraid of letting go? Set that bitch free, she made you who you are 
• What have you done for yourself today to help you love yourself more than you did yesterday? I bet you are a little wiser than you were

So on that note my loves, just do you. Do not be jealous of those who attack your well-being; rather embrace your person let your happiness radiate through your freakin' blood vessels, you're only human.

<3