The good news is: You are not alone. We can relate.

There are so many times when our mind convinces us that we are the only ones going through challenges and no one will ever understand. Even worse, that can make you feel like something is wrong with you, especially when other people keep their struggles silent.

Even though it is impossible to understand everyone’s full experiences, thoughts, or struggles, people can empathize or relate to the mental and emotional pressure.

Somewhere in this life, we internalized that the best way to deal with something is to keep it to ourselves and “figure it out” alone. It’s as if exposing our weakness, pain, confusion, or struggle makes us weak, insecure, trivial, or incompetent. 

While I was out to dinner with a friend late last week, we reminisced about our high school years together, our college days apart, our passions, and our concerns about the areas of blindness that exist in our future. At various points in the conversation, we discovered that we surprisingly experienced many of the same questions, emotions, struggles, and concerns throughout our lives. I could not stop wondering how things would be different for both of us if we weren’t so afraid to share this stuff earlier in life.

Personal stories may change, but common principles stay the same. Everyone is dealing with finding personal identity and purpose, success, loss, hurt, pain, isolation, abrupt change, and uncertainty. We tend to think that a person cannot understand us unless they have had the same exact experience. If we look hard enough, there is at least one person within our reach that can understand the emotions behind our struggle.

Your challenges are not solely a result of something you did wrong, but rather a result of LIFE. Yes, you can thank life for everyone having their portion of a challenge. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that we are not alone. So, set a dinner date, order something yummy, bring one or two people you trust (and possess wisdom and the ability to reciprocate vulnerability), and start sharing your story. I would not be surprised if along the way you find one or two people that say they’ve dealt with that too.

And if not, you can always talk to me.