It goes both ways

You know, I’ve always had small friendship struggles. If you’ve read my past articles, they probably don’t seem that small. But at the end of the day, everyone has their own issues.

And I’ve realized something. The more I focus on my own problems, the blurrier everyone else’s become.

I spend so much time in my own head. Thinking about that one embarrassing moment in class. Thinking about how I need to get better at my sport. Thinking about my body, what I eat, how I look. All these things that feel huge to me. So huge that I forget there are other people living entire lives outside of mine.

And then I feel guilty. Because these are my problems. And I’m lucky that they are.

Somewhere else in the world, someone my age could be asking a completely different question. Not “what should I eat?” but “will I eat at all?”“What’s for dinner?” sounds simple. It sounds normal. But for some people, the answer is nothing.

And that’s hard to sit with.

Because part of me feels like I shouldn’t complain. Like my problems don’t deserve space when compared to that. But at the same time, they still feel real. I still feel them.

And I think that’s the part no one really talks about. You can be aware of how good you have it and still struggle. You can feel grateful and still feel overwhelmed. Those things can exist at the same time.

It’s just hard to fully understand someone else’s reality when you’re not the one living it.

And that goes both ways.