There is a quiet pressure sitting on the shoulders of many young people today. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t announce itself. But it is there , in expectations, in comparisons, in timelines.
Everywhere you turn, someone your age is “winning.” Someone just bought a car. Someone just relocated. Someone is engaged. Someone is making money online.
Social media has turned life into a constant scoreboard, and whether we like it or not, we keep checking our position.
The truth is, not everyone is lost. Some people are just growing quietly.
We rarely talk about how exhausting it is to constantly feel behind. To smile in public but question yourself in private.
To be called “young and vibrant” while secretly worrying about your future. There is pressure to succeed early, pressure to look good while doing it, pressure to appear unbothered.
And the dangerous part? We normalize it. We joke about being broke. We laugh about being tired. We post motivational quotes. But deep down, many young people are overwhelmed. Not lazy. Not unserious. Just overwhelmed.
Maybe what this generation needs is not more comparison, but more compassion. Not louder success stories, but honest conversations about struggle. Not competition, but community. Life is not a race, no matter how fast the internet moves.
And sometimes, growing at your own pace is the real success.
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