I’m sure everyone has seen quotes that say things like: “5 Signs You’re Living Good — [1] you woke up this morning, [2] you have a roof over your head, or [3] your bills are paid”. But is that really the standard for living a happy and fulfilled life? You will run into a lot of people your age, or older, who would identify happiness as having everything together by a certain time in their lives. Or that they work at least 40 hours a week because they know exactly how much money they’d make after taxes on their next check. Don’t get it wrong, those things are great. But, those are responsibilities that are inflicted by society.

As millennials, a lot of us are familiar with the insecurities that social media can trigger. Nobody is exempt. You should not allow something unfamiliar to you, something without substance to control your behaviors. Do not sit in that space. There’s a fine line between being envious and being inspired, and I’m beginning to see a lot of people that are becoming envious about things that probably wouldn’t even matter at the end of the day.

There is nothing wrong with what you have, who you are and where you’re going. Stop comparing yourself, or your life, to what you see online or who you surround yourself with. Don’t like something in your life? Asses the damage, unpack everything in your life, analyze it, and sift through what needs to stay and what needs to go.

Have you ever been driving to work or on your way home and you went through every intersection full of green lights? That’s the universe telling you, “Good job and to keep up the good work with whatever you’ve got going on in life.” Yeah, it’s rare, but it happens quite often.

There is this intersection by my job that includes the turning lane to pull into the parking lot and boy, if you don’t make that light, prepared to be late. That intersection is the absolute worst, it’s full of construction, traffic, eight different lanes going in different directions, and also happens to be where I’m going five out of seven days a week. Sometimes if I’m in a weird mood before going into work, I’ll catch that red light and be forced to sit there for a long time. I use this as an analogy to point out that, whatever energy you put into the world, you will receive in many different ways.

Take care of yourself. Got a little extra money and you really want this outfit you’ve been eyeing for awhile? Go buy it, treat yourself. Don’t drown yourself with pity or anxiety because you’re too busy trying to make ends meet or make sure your life meets some stupid deadline that’s unrealistic. This is your life. Live it as you please.

At the end of the day, the only person who’s entitled to being proud of you is you. Lord knows if I was concerned with the exact things my family aspired for me to do, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I’ve taken so many risks, put myself in some of the most character building situations, and have drug myself through the mud. But, who I am today is a product of all of those things, building me up to be indestructible. Everybody talks about “building an empire” with their significant other and yeah those are definitely goals. But, who do both of you represent when you’re not around one another? What does your character and stature say about who you guys are individually as a team?

The only things we should be concerned with ultimately in life because that is the very thing that brings you wealth, good karma and an abundance of blessings; your character and spirit. I don’t believe in there being “good and bad people”. I believe there are just people who are conscious and those who aren’t. What you put out into the universe will always take care of you in some form or fashion, either in your favor or not. But you have complete control over that.