You may have seen a previous post “Want to live more peacefully? Stop comparing yourself with others” where we talked about the current mentality that many people have nowadays.
In this post I want to give you some compelling reasons to leave that habit aside because comparing ourselves with the rest we can never be happy. We have to follow our path lightly and not be influenced by what other people say or do with their actions, their photos, their words…
Do not fall into the temptation to compare yourself with the neighbor or with the person who is 10,000 km away from your life showing photos or videos of how well life is going. It is good to have references but to try to improve not to be unhappy full of frustration.
Let’s go with a few tips to guide you on the road to absolute happiness:
You think everyone else is happy except you.
It seems like a harmless act to peek into the lives and accomplishments of others. In reality, it conceals great dangers. For example, if you are not equipped with sufficient awareness and life experience, you can easily believe that the realities of others are perfect and that everyone is happy but you.
This is not so, of course, but obsessive comparison blinds our rationality and this way of thinking is very common today. It leads us to doubt our worth and robs us of the confidence we need to cultivate serenity.
Comparison and competitiveness
It often happens that comparison quickly slips into competition: we do not look at others out of genuine curiosity or, better yet, to inspire us on our way, but because we feel at war with the whole world.
This attitude is very serious and, unfortunately, it is also very common today: we live in the most peaceful period in the history of mankind and yet we see enemies everywhere. This leads us to always be on alert, to always want to be productive in order not to be outdone by anyone.
It stresses us out, alienates us and makes us feel lonely and angry.
The more you compare yourself, the less you grow
However, the most negative aspect of all is another one: every time we compare ourselves to others, we are taking away precious time and energy that we could be spending on ourselves and our projects.
Think about this the next time you gossip about someone, envy someone, wish you had someone’s achievements, their girlfriend, their bank account, their car, their house… Think that no one became someone by wasting time comparing themselves to others.
And then, remember: the goal is not to try to become someone else, not even someone you admire.
You are you, and you are a unique and potentially extraordinary story. Why potentially? Because if you keep comparing yourself to others, you will end up being a copy of a thousand abstracts.
If, on the other hand, you focus on yourself, the end result will be imperfect, but unique. And after all, since chasing perfection is a race without a goal, an illusion, isn’t it better to be happily imperfect?
