The Intro
Hey, my name is Charz. I’m a twenty-something software designer from Uganda. Well, that’s how I explain it to my mom—what I really do is UX/UI design, and I’m terrible at coding (just so you know). I live in a suburb near the city and work as a freelancer.
So, what are you working on?
Yeah, that classic question. I’ll give the usual answer: I’m working on some big stuff (¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
But honestly, I’m currently working on green environment projects and helping South Africans understand their government better. There’s more coming soon. Hey I promise ;)
What’s this article about?
Did I bring you here just to tell you about myself? Could have been an email, right? Nope. I wrote this article to break down the concept of time—not in the physics way, but more like a "you and me" conversation. This is where the real story begins.
Are you behind in life?
Maybe.
This is one of those questions that haunts everyone—rich, poor, confused, hopeful—whether you’re in your 20s or 30s, it doesn’t stop. It keeps coming back, like a boomerang. So, what’s the answer?
Honestly, I don’t have one. I often wake up at 7 a.m. and do what many people my age do: check my phone, go through emails, and scroll through Google News. That’s when I see people my age making 400x what I make. And that’s the origin of my own question: "Am I behind in life?"
I don’t answer it though. I just get up, power on my laptop, and start working. But then, halfway through the day, I see a tweet from a fellow designer celebrating a gig worth more than my yearly earnings, and—yep—you guessed it, the question comes back.
So, I dive down the rabbit hole, searching for answers—how are they getting ahead, and why aren’t I? I end up on different sites, reading their stories, hoping to find some breadcrumbs. But it's like chasing carrots down a hole that just leads to more dirt.
By 6 p.m., it’s time to make dinner, so I grab some coins, head to the vegetable lady down the street, and overhear her talking about her son who just landed a job at a big company abroad. He’s only 19. And yeah, you guessed it, the question creeps back in like your phone’s dark mode toggling itself on.
So, are you behind in life?
Honestly? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends.
Being "behind" implies there’s a race—and if there’s someone in front of you, there’s also someone behind you. It’s like a domino effect. But life isn’t linear like that. Everyone’s on their own path, with their own brain and story. We’re not like computers running on one server—we all process life differently.
This could be the answer to our question: "Am I behind?" Maybe you are. Maybe you’re not. But maybe you’re right where you need to be.
So, how have I concluded? You still haven’t given me a clear answer.
Here’s the thing: like Tupac said on Kendrick Lamar’s “Mortal Man,” “A true hustler in every sense of the word. I took nothing, I took the opportunities.”
Take the opportunities in every sense. When executed well, this question will disappear. But if you don’t, it’ll keep reappearing.
I’m not even successful enough to give advice, but this is the answer I wrote down before going to bed at 2 a.m.
Image credits; Lummi — Free AI Stock Images & Photos