Since finally getting up the courage to publish a blog, with this post I’m going to shine a light on the beast that held me captive for such a long time. Comparing ourselves to others is almost second nature. It’s almost safe to say it is an expected norm. Some even view it as a positive motivator. I know there was a time in my life where I saw it as such, but the path it led me down was dark. In fact, it was so dark that I could not live without outside affirmation and most of us know the only way to get that is to keep up with everyone else in the world. It’s just the way of the world we live in. The quality of my life during this period was completely dependent on the fact that I was keeping us with the Jones’s while all the while it as was sucking the life out of me completely. How ironic.
Knowing Who You Are
Much of life is lived off absolutes and proof. What you see is what you get. You are ether this or that fitting in one box or the other. From an early age, I did my best to blend in with the crowd. I believe this played a big part in discovering who I really was. I excelled at many things and got plenty of praise for them, but I cannot tell you that I really enjoyed anything else about those things but the recognition that I got. I watched as others my age stuck out like sore thumbs and we’re picked on and ridiculed. I didn’t want to be that girl, so I picked my side appropriately. Looking back, I wish I had known better then. Now as an adult, I find myself unsure of who I really am. All my life I have spent trying to be someone I’m not. One strategy of the enemy is to get into our minds and trick us into believing we must be static beings, all with the same agenda. This is just not true. I do not have to continue to be a victim of the culture. We do not have to think and do the same things to be considered normal. When we start to see this truth and start to accept who are that we things will start to change.
So where do we go from here? I myself am proof that comparison and the need for affirmation from others outside of ourselves will drain your soul dry. We’re all unique at the core. We shouldn’t be afraid to fail, what others might think of us, or to explore who we are. There is beauty in all of us. We just have to stop looking outside to see what we lack and start looking inside to see what we already have. Once we start to appreciate ourselves, we can then start to see the beauty in other.
Try a gratitude practice! I have found that using a one since journal like this one makes it a quick and easy process.