The problem isn’t that you dream or that your mind is full of imagination. Dreaming big and hoping for all of your aspirations to come true isn’t wrong. Taking the steps in order to get there isn’t wrong either — but what happens when things don’t go as plan? When life catches up to you. When things don’t work out the way you want.

We beat ourselves up. We say we’re unable to be who we want to be. Who we dream of being. Who we have always imagined becoming.

Passion, drive and determination makes us, but what truly matters is that we cut ourselves a break and not beat ourselves up over the failures of our lives.

I can attest to this as much as the next person. I do not handle failure well or rejection or loss or hurt or anything that says that this time wasn’t for me, and no matter how much I say that “everything happens for a reason,” which I believe, there is still an echo inside my head saying that I wish this was my time, my chance, my moment.

Failure is hard to deal with. It opens up vulnerability to an all-time high. It creates a box around you as if you are unable to break the chains that are holding you back, but those around you aren’t creating the pressure. They aren’t setting the standard. It’s you.

You might receive comments from others on your failures, and while they might not all be good, what really affects you is what you think about yourself. How you feel about yourself. What you ponder and worry and stress over countless hours, days, months about yourself.

We all have to fight against our mind, the enemy, the one who tells us that we are incapable — because if we don’t, we will constantly be bringing ourselves down further and further.

We are our worst critics. You are your worst critic. I am my worst critic.

-Jas