Comparisons Are Lethal
Spare yourselves the horror
Life is tough and if there’s something that makes it a lot tougher then that is comparing.
There are many things that are not under our control but comparing is, so why must we do it?
Do you ever wonder looking at others:
“How lucky he is to have that.”
“She did not deserve it, I deserved it more.”
“Why can they have it, and not me, I am such a failure.”
“He has accomplished so much in his life but I have nothing.”
These are just some of the dialogues that we use to compare ourselves with others.
Comparisons begin as soon as we are born. At first, we are compared for our looks, then for academics, sports, behavior, status, and so on. We loathe comparisons as a kid but they are so deeply rooted in us that we fail to get rid of them as we grow up.
There’s little we could do to control others but a lot more to control ourselves.
When things are not going right for us, we look at others and start comparing blindly. We feel jealous, insecure, unaccomplished, and broken, all of this without even knowing the other side of the story.
Everyone has a journey to make and no one is lucky enough to make it without any difficulties or sacrifices, but we can't always know them just the way others can’t know our side of the story.
What we possess, might be craved by others and what they have, might be craved by us, for no one has it all. By comparing ourselves with others, we only make our misery increase, everyone has accomplished something or the other in their lives, for accomplishment doesn’t mean the same for everybody.
For some, accomplishment means money whilst for some others, it simply means family time. An accomplishment could be anything from a beautiful painting you drew, that stray cat you once fed, the game where you outplayed everybody or the test in which you outscored yourself.
We will always seek something or the other in our lives and we might not always be able to achieve it the way we would want and then if we can’t stop comparing we’d end up feeling devastated.
Seeking is a never-ending process in human life, hence, there is very little contentment.
One can only be content when they stop comparing themselves with others and start being happy in the present.
Now, social media has made things all the crazier, people believe what they see online and start comparing and self-loathing whereas the real story is oftentimes totally different. There have been various awareness campaigns also running online to tell netizens that life isn’t as rosy as the filtered photos on Instagram, not every smile has happiness behind it.
Be it social media or the outer world, drawing comparisons with others, under any circumstances, bring no good to anybody. If we draw comparisons with someone “better” than us then we’ll end up feeling bad or vice versa, in either case, there’s unnecessary suffering involved.
Just like our fingers, every human being is unique so we must not compare to look down upon anybody OR ourselves.
