When we compare ourselves to others, we feel like we’re lagging behind. It’s like we’ve created a competition in our minds to see who is further ahead, who has more possessions, who has more accolades, and who has everything together. And when we identify the things that we’re lagging behind in, we feel as if we can’t keep up with the race–can’t be in the competition anymore.
But when we do this, we’re judging ourselves by rules and standards that other people have come up with. Like how much savings we should have by a certain age, or how much money we should make or what kind of career we should have, etc. But these are different for everyone, and life throws curve balls at us that will either upset our plans or set us back.
It’s as if we define ourselves by how far ahead or behind we are in relation to everyone else. But is this necessary? Are we compromising our happiness for things that don’t really matter in the long run? Because in the end, our happiness isn’t measured by how far we are in the race that is the world, but in being content and grateful for what we have.
Fallton Havenstonne 