The Pressure Nobody Sees

Nobody really talks about the pressure of becoming someone while you’re still figuring out who you are.

Everyone asks what you’re going to do next, what you’re studying, where you’re going, what you’ll achieve, how successful you’ll become.

And sometimes I just want to say—

“I don’t know yet.”

I’m trying to make decisions with a mind that changes every other week. I’m trying to meet expectations I never agreed to. I’m trying to make my parents proud, build a future, not disappoint people, and somehow still enjoy being young.

The strange part is, from the outside, I probably look completely fine.

I attend classes. I laugh. I reply to messages. I make plans.

Nobody sees the tiny panic behind every “what if I’m not good enough?”

Maybe growing up isn’t scary because we don’t know the future.

Maybe it’s scary because everyone expects us to already have a plan for it.