With social media and other media outlets at the forefront, we are all placed in a very vulnerable position. After a head banging day and all you really want to do is cry, you log onto Facebook in hopes that this will distract you from the misfortune you encountered earlier. You see that ten of your friends got a new promotion, your high school nemesis is having a baby, and Beyoncé just slayed another show! WHERE IS MY WIN? Be careful not to compare your dress rehearsal, to someone’s prime time special.
The cool thing about this ever expanding world is that we are all co-creators in this collective journey of life. We were not brought into this life to make others stop what they are doing, in order to mimic the fashion of our own personal life. Instead, we were all placed here for a very special and unique purpose. We all have different things to bring to the table, that gives the world a sense of harmony. If we could all accept this understanding, we could help to alleviate society of some of the stresses that are brought on by the nature of comparison and rejection.
I wrote a poem at a point in my life, where I was stuck in constant confusion. I seemed to be doing so well from the outside looking in, but I didn’t see what others saw. I was always comparing myself to where I thought I would be, when I was a child. In this poem, I wrote a couple of lines that helped me and one of my dearest friends push through. “The truth is that life is not a competition. We all have separate lanes and the qualifications are much different. Maybe your job is not as glamorous as the next, but put forth your best effort and it will elevate you to the next step.”
When I say don’t compare, empower… I’m not just talking about other people. We all have to learn how to stop comparing ourselves to old visions we had for our life. I’m not who, nor where I thought I would be by now, but that’s okay! We have to learn how to light the flame within, whenever it begins to fall dull.
One of our daily intentions should not be to be better than everyone else, but we should simply strive to achieve the best version of ourselves. Comparison is a thief of joy, which can lead you down a dangerous path. It seems to be part of human nature to compare, but remember we are not living the same experiences…and the circumstances are often much different.