Your Trajectory

Your Trajectory on the Journey is the Key

One reason that the teen years usually span about 10 years is that there is so much to do.  It simply takes time and it really is a journey.  It’s not a race and you’re not supposed to develop all these competencies in the first few years of being a teenager.  There is also a rhythm to the journey.  The journey is like a roller coaster, sometimes steep and sometimes flatter.  Sometimes it’s exciting and sometimes it’s scary.

Enjoy the Ride and Remember – it’s a Journey

The key is to actively pursue getting good at or mastering these skills and enjoy the learning process.  It feels good to develop competencies and become increasingly independent.  The more competencies you develop, the better it feels.

It just isn’t going to happen all at once or in a straight line.  Nor is it going to happen without setbacks and frustrations and false starts.  Sometimes competencies develop quickly and sometimes they don’t.  The trick is to just keep going and pay attention to your general trajectory, not what happened today, this week or this month. 

Your Trajectory 

As long as you are on a good trajectory – direction and pace – in developing the competencies you need, you can feel good about your journey.  All these competencies don’t get built in the first 3-4 years of being a teenager.  That may seem frustrating, but that’s the way it works.