“You’re doing great” my best friend Chris said to me as I reeled off the disasters of my week over our morning WhatsApp voice memos. I had just dropped my slice of toast (butter side down) onto the kitchen floor and for some reason it felt like the last straw. The truth is, life isn’t that easy for most of us right now. And its hard to remember how lucky we are. The fact that I even had a slice of toast to begin with was more than a lot of people in the world have right now. Covid has taken lives and a lot of peoples sanity and now with the war in Ukraine, the rise in bills and the decrease in faith in humanity we are all feeling the need to tread carefully.
It’s time to realise that, if you woke up this morning, then you are doing great! Because you are surviving... whatever life is throwing at you, you are still here, you’re still breathing and you still have time. The majority of the world are struggling these days in one way or another. It’s so easy to see someone drive past in an expensive car and get caught up in what we can’t afford only to realise its on finance. Or to see the perfect couple on Facebook only to realise their constant loved up posts are to cover there not so perfect relationship at home. It is hard to remember that Instagram is full of filters and that no ones skin is that clear...ever!
Humans are the only species to be constantly comparing themselves to each other. Animals wake up, look for food, play around for a bit and end the day satisfied. They don’t care if the next door neighbours cat caught more birds this week or the dog across the road can run faster. Animals are content to just be.
A lot of us are fighting for our dreams which is great! Life is for living but its also remembering that it doesn’t really matter what we achieve. How many sales we get, how many subscribers we have, how many liked a post. None of that really matters. What we strive to achieve in life should be for our own satisfaction not for the validation from other people. I don’t need anyone to tell me how great I am at song writing.. (I think I’m pretty good) Does that mean I have sold songs and have Spotify fame.. far from it. Do I care that I never got a record deal? Not really. And probably for the best. Wasn’t keen of the rehab life most celebs fall into anyway! I wrote songs because I loved writing songs.
Sometimes we get so caught up in paying the bills and keeping our jobs and comparing ourselves to other peoples station in life that we forget just to be for a while. To enjoy the little things in life. So let’s just take a moment to be grateful for all we are and all we do have. And don’t be so hard on ourselves. Rome wasn’t built in a day and one way or another we will survive and even thrive. Keep the dreams alive. We’re all just winging it. “You’re doing great”
Emma Spurling
The pictured "You're Doing Great" T Shirt design is available in a variety of sizes and colours made from organic cotton and using 100% renewable energy!