There comes a point in life when you realise how much energy you have spent trying to force things into place.
The relationship that did not choose you. The opportunity that slipped away. The timeline that never unfolded the way you imagined. The version of life you thought you would be living by now.
For a while, it is difficult not to take these things personally.
You wonder what you could have done differently, replay conversations, and revisit decisions. Part of you believes that if you had worked harder, moved faster, or said the right thing at the right time, the outcome would have changed.
Maybe sometimes it would have.
Yet as the years pass, a different perspective begins to emerge.
Some things leave because they were never meant to stay, doors close because they are protecting you from a future you cannot yet see. Some delays are not punishments but preparations.
The truth is that life rarely unfolds according to our schedules.
Instead, it unfolds according to its own.
That can feel frustrating when you are in the middle of waiting. Waiting for clarity, for direction. Waiting for something that feels like confirmation that you are heading where you are supposed to go.
However, growth often happens in those waiting seasons.
The moments when nothing seems to be happening are usually the moments when the deepest work is taking place beneath the surface.
Roots grow before anything breaks through the ground.
Looking back, many of the things I desperately wanted years ago would not fit the person I am today. At the time, that was impossible to understand. All I could see was the disappointment of not getting what I wanted.
Now, I can see the protection hidden within those outcomes.
Life was not withholding. It was redirecting.
That is why the phrase “what is meant for you will be yours” becomes more meaningful with age.
It stops sounding like wishful thinking and starts sounding like wisdom.
Not because everything magically works out, but because you begin to trust that forcing rarely creates the best outcomes. What belongs in your life does not require endless chasing, self abandonment, or constant anxiety to maintain.
The right opportunities still require effort. Meaningful relationships still require commitment. Dreams still require discipline.
Yet there is a difference between working toward something and trying to control everything.
One comes from trust.
The other comes from fear.
Trust understands that your responsibility is the effort. Fear believes your responsibility is the outcome.
The two feel very different.
This is where the idea of asking and receiving becomes powerful.
Many people misunderstand it as a guarantee that they will get exactly what they want. In reality, it is often an invitation to open yourself to possibilities beyond what you can currently imagine.
You ask through intention. Through action. Through faith in the direction you are moving.
Then you receive, not always in the form you expected, but often in the form you needed.
Sometimes the answer arrives as an opportunity.
Other times it arrives as a lesson.
Occasionally it arrives disguised as a disappointment that only makes sense years later.
Life has a way of revealing its logic in reverse.
That is why learning to let things be is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.
Not every situation needs to be controlled, every unanswered question needs an immediate answer, and not every chapter requires you to know how the story ends.
There is strength in allowing things to unfold.
There is wisdom in accepting that uncertainty is part of the journey.
Most importantly, there is peace in recognising that your worth is not determined by how quickly life delivers what you want.
You are not behind.
Growth rarely looks dramatic while it is happening.
More often, it looks like showing up again. Learning another lesson. Making another small decision. Becoming slightly wiser than you were yesterday.
One day at a time.Eventually, you look back and realise that every season, every setback, every unexpected turn was shaping you into someone capable of carrying the life you were building toward.
Not the life you imagined years ago.
The life that was actually meant for you.
That is why I keep returning to a simple thought whenever life feels uncertain.
What is meant for me will be mine.
My job is not to force it.
My job is to keep growing, keep trusting, and keep moving forward.
Because with every passing day, I am one day closer to becoming who I am supposed to be.
The Editor’s Thoughts Moving Forward
The older I get, the less interested I become in forcing outcomes. There was a time when I believed success came from controlling every detail, planning every step, and pushing harder whenever something did not work out.
Now, I see things differently.
Effort still matters. Discipline still matters. Ambition still matters. However, I have learned that some of the best things in life arrived when I stopped gripping so tightly and allowed space for timing to do its work.
Moving forward, I want to focus less on chasing certainty and more on building trust. Trust in the process, in the lessons, and that growth is happening even when results are not immediately visible.
Life is rarely as linear as we hope. Yet when I look back, the pieces often make more sense than they did in the moment.
Perhaps that is the invitation for all of us.
Keep showing up, doing the work, and asking for what you want.
Then allow life enough room to surprise you.
You may discover that what was meant for you was finding its way to you all along.