You Are Not Behind: Your Purpose Has Its Own Timeline

Recently, I found myself looking at the accomplishments of someone I have known since childhood. I was genuinely proud of everything he had achieved. He had built an impressive life of service, leadership, and community impact.

Then, without even realizing what I was doing, I started comparing his journey to mine.

For a moment, I thought, Look at everything he has accomplished. I’m still at the bottom.

And then I had to remind myself of something that I hope will encourage somebody else:

Stop measuring your life against somebody else’s life.

It is so easy to look at another person’s accomplishments and suddenly make our own lives seem smaller. We see where they are today, but we don’t see every obstacle, disappointment, sacrifice, detour, prayer, failure, and quiet victory that brought them there.

More importantly, their journey was never supposed to be ours.

Your Purpose Is Your Own

I believe every person has a purpose.

That doesn’t mean everybody’s purpose will look the same. One person’s calling may lead to ministry. Another person’s may lead to business, education, medicine, parenting, entertainment, public service, the arts, or simply being the person who changes the direction of one family’s life.

Some people discover their path early.

Others take the scenic route.

I think I may be one of the scenic-route people.

My life has taken me through acting, singing, theater, television, writing, entrepreneurship, education, faith, setbacks, reinvention, and experiences I never could have planned for myself.

There were times when I thought certain chapters of my life were over, only to discover that God wasn’t finished with the story.

And that’s why I’ve learned not to confuse “not finished” with “not successful.”

Those are two very different things.

Don’t Compare Your Middle to Someone Else’s Highlight Reel

When we look at someone else’s life, we usually see the accomplishments.

When we look at our own lives, we see everything.

We remember the mistakes.

We know about the bills.

We know about the opportunities that didn’t happen.

We remember the doors that closed, the years that didn’t go according to plan, and all the things we’re still trying to accomplish.

That’s an unfair comparison.

You are judging your behind-the-scenes footage against somebody else’s finished presentation.

Don’t do that to yourself.

Celebrate other people. Applaud them. Be inspired by them. Learn from them.

But don’t use another person’s success as evidence of your failure.

Keep Moving

I wrote a book called Purpose In Motion because I believe purpose is revealed through movement.

Sometimes you don’t know exactly where everything is leading while you’re living it.

You just take the next step.

Then another.

Then another.

And one day you look behind you and realize those steps became a journey.

So if you’re reading this and wondering whether you’re too old, too late, too far behind, or whether everybody else somehow figured life out before you did, I want to tell you something I’m learning to tell myself:

You’re not behind. You’re still building.

Keep learning.

Keep creating.

Keep serving.

Keep dreaming.

Keep becoming.

And while you’re pursuing your own goals, reach back and help somebody else along the way.

Because perhaps the greatest accomplishment isn’t simply being able to say, “Look how far I made it.”

Maybe it’s being able to say:

“Look how many people came a little farther because I was here.”

Be yourself. Walk your own road. Trust your purpose.

And always remember:

Know who you are and whose you are.

— Karen Yvonne McClain