One year older but I’m still learning so much. One year older but still making the same mistakes. One year older but still hungry for more adventures, more passion and more joy. One year older but still searching for meaning, still trying to understand why certain things happened and why certain things collapsed. One year older but I still feel like a kid searching for answers, running away from responsibilities, putting myself in trouble while trying to hide from my parents. One year older but I feel like I’ve lived many lives with so much wisdom, so much pain, so many scars, like I’ve lived through wars and fought so many battles I haven’t recovered from.
There will always be people doubting you, judging you, waiting for you to mess up so they can say ‘I told you so.’ There will be people waiting for you to fail so they can keep you in your box. There will always be people who don’t want to see you happy or successful or loved, but as long as you’re not one of them, you will prevail. As long as you don’t let these people get to you, as long as you don’t let their doubts and opinions affect your decisions and your confidence, they will never break you, because the only way to fall into their trap is to actually believe them.
Rania Naim 