Will I still have time…?

  Just like me, I believe most people - if not all - have doubted themselves at some point, whether for thinking they did something too late... or too soon. That doubt seems to be part of the human experience, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. That’s exactly why I wanted to write this piece: to talk about time. Or more precisely, about what we’re told is the “right time” to love, to feel, to live.
  Is there really a right age for your first kiss? For your first sexual experience? For getting married? For having kids? Is there really an ideal moment for all of that? Or have we just been taught to follow a script we don’t even know who wrote?
  From a young age, we feel this urge to rush through life. At 12, many already dream of their first kiss. At 16 or 18, there’s pressure around that “first time.” Then, by 25 or 26, people start wondering if they should be settling down, buying a house, having kids. Somehow, we’re always chasing what we don’t yet have. A kind of chronic dissatisfaction that keeps us living ahead of time - constantly trying to reach the next milestone without fully tasting the now.
  But what if, instead, we learned to embrace our own timing? To honour the present? To understand that there’s no universal clock telling us when everything should happen? Maybe - just maybe - that would bring us more peace.
Of course, this is easier said than done. I know how hard it can be to accept our own pace, especially when we start to feel like we’re falling behind. That feeling, as unfair as it is, becomes even more real when the people around us - especially our closest friends - start experiencing things we haven’t yet.
Suddenly, life turns into a silent race, where we’re all competing to see who kisses first, who gets married first, who has kids first. And worse, we often don’t even realize it. We just feel that tightness in our chest that comes from thinking, “It should’ve happened to me by now.”
But the truth is, each of us has our own timeline. We’re not all starting from the same place, nor do we face the same obstacles. And what looks like a detour on our path might actually be what leads us exactly where we need to go.
  This urge to “get there” isn’t new. Kids have always looked up to adults and wanted to grow up fast. There’s always been that fascination with the things adults did - because they came with a sense of freedom, power, or simply because they looked like “grown-up stuff.”
But even though this has always existed, I feel like that urge has intensified - largely because of social media. And just to be clear, I’m not her
e to bash social media. That would be a bit hypocritical on my part. I’m from Gen Z. I wasn’t born with a smartphone in my hand… but almost. I’m clearly on track to having lived more of my life with a smartphone than without. So I’m not excluding myself from this world - I just think it’s important to reflect on the impact it has.
Social media shows perfect lives, perfect loves, perfect moments. And kids, who are increasingly exposed to all of that, start wanting those things too soon. They dream of love before they even know what it means. Which brings me to this question: do those kids really want to experience love… or are they chasing the idea of love that’s been sold to them? Because at 12, no matter how many movies you watch or books you read, I think it’s hard to grasp what it really means to love - and to be loved.
Maybe it’s this rush to live everything so quickly that leads so many people into relationships they’re not ready for. Relationships that, because of age, maturity, or lack of self-knowledge, end up going badly. Because some think they’re ready to live a love story, when in fact, they only grow emotionally after love ends. And that’s okay. There’s no shame in admitting that maturity comes with experience - not before it.

So... am I still in time?
The truth is yes. We always are.
Living outside of other people’s timeline isn’t a sign of failure - it’s often a sign of courage. The courage to respect our own rhythm, our own timing, our own feelings. Because life isn’t a race to see who gets there first, it’s a journey to discover who we are along the way.
  Maybe we should spend less time looking sideways and more time looking inward. Less time comparing, and more time living. Because no one else lives our life for us - we're the only ones who truly know what makes sense for our now.
And if you’re only going to remember one sentence from this text, let it be this one:
“You’re not late - you’re exactly where you need to be to learn what you’re meant to know.”