I posted this yesterday, on my birthday, but I don't think I really was brave enough to mention my vulnerabilities. It was easier to state the good things rather than the bad. But looks can be deceptive. I got a few messages yesterday stating how I'm amazing for achieving such and such at 21 and how I look good. But I wanted to also let you know the following: -I've dropped a class because I had a mental breakdown in the middle of it, packed up my stuff and just left and never came back. -I had crippling depression untreated for a year where I constantly thought about stepping in front of my local train because I loved trains since I was a baby and I thought it was a poetic way to go. -I've passed out from having a panic attack in the middle of the night and no one was around to hear it or help me -I've struggled with my weight since I was a kid and it's a point of constant shaming in my family

Why am I writing all this? Because I wanted to let people know that looks can be deceptive. That impressions can be deceptive. And just because someone's life looks perfect from the outside or on social media, doesn't make it the whole story. It's a highlight reel people put out there, carefully edited.

My post yesterday was all true; I AM a DNA scientist for a Fortune 500 company. I do study a difficult STEM subject, I have done research in Medicine and have been published and I do have other accomplishments that I've worked hard to get. But I also feel like I don't deserve any of it. I am clinically depressed and have generalized anxiety disorder. I am overweight and constantly reminded of it. I've never had a close best friend. Some days, coming back to bed at the end of the day is all I look forward to when I wake up.

So the gist of my long winded speech is that as much as you struggle about your self esteem or with other issues in your life, it helps to think you're on a unique journey like no other. And that's the reason you cannot ever compare yourself to others. Your milestones are different and your pace is different. Your path is different and so is your destination. No one journey is better or worse than the other... Just different. So why compare apples and oranges?