As we go through life, it can be easy to feel like everyone around us has it all figured out. We see people our own age graduating from college, getting good jobs, and starting families, and we wonder what’s wrong with us if we haven’t reached those same milestones. Society and the media often present a narrative that by the time we reach a certain age, we should have everything together, but the truth is that nobody bursts from their mother’s womb ready for the world.

Wisdom and understanding come with time and experience. It’s unreasonable to expect someone who is still young and has not yet had a chance to gain a wide range of experiences to have all the answers. Just like an oak tree takes longer to grow and mature than a pine tree, but ultimately becomes stronger and more valuable, it takes time for us to grow and learn from our experiences.

It’s important to be patient with ourselves and to keep learning and growing. We all make mistakes and have setbacks, but it’s through facing and overcoming these challenges that we gain wisdom and understanding. As the old saying goes, “The only thing that stays the same is change.” Life is constantly changing and evolving, and it’s natural to feel like we don’t have everything figured out all the time.

There’s a song by Ian Tyson called “The Old Double Diamond” about an old cowboy who has worked on the same ranch for many years. In the song, the cowboy reflects on his younger days and admits that when he first started working on the ranch, he was a “darn poor excuse for a man.” But through the experiences and lessons he’s learned over the years, he’s gained wisdom and understanding. The song’s message is that it’s through facing and overcoming challenges that we become wiser and more capable.

So if you’re feeling like you don’t have everything figured out, know that you’re not alone. It’s completely normal to feel this way, and it’s through facing and overcoming challenges that we gain the wisdom and understanding we need to navigate life’s ups and downs. So don’t be too hard on yourself, and remember that it takes time to grow and mature. Keep learning and growing, and eventually you’ll look back and realize that you’ve come a long way.