Tabi basa & greetings everyone. Many would have heard this phrase somewhere: “Comparison is the thief of joy”. In simple, it means when we compare ourselves with others, we no longer feel happy with what we have.
When We Were Young
Remember when we were still young? It is easy for us to be happy because everything is new for us. There is so much things to be discovered. So much friends to be made, so much things to learn about.
However, as we grew older, and know more, we tend to compare. Some even lose their inner child.
Comparison is something that we learned.
Unhappiness Through Comparison
Through this lens of comparison, whatever that we have, though initially feels adequate, suddenly feels lacking. There is always someone richer, prettier, more powerful, has more followers than us out there. Not only at work place, church, school but even amongst family mmebers. If left unchecked, this downward spiral may lead us to the valley of depression.
To give it a reality check, there are a lot of aspects that we didn’t know, which includes:
- We do not make a fair comparison – we don’t even begin from the same starting line
- We do not know the full story & what they have sacrificed in order to be where they are at now
- It is humanly impossible to be the best in everything
- We often do this comparison negatively (something that we should not do but always easier said than done).
What Should We Do?
Therefore, is it a fair comparison? No, isn’t it? Therefore, we shouldn’t compare ourselves to another person. Not only it is not good for our mental health but will affect those that were being compared to, especially to their self-esteem.
Compare Ourselves With Our Yester-Self
If we want to make a comparison, compare it to who we were yesterday since we already know where we are starting, we know our full story and it also can serve as a self-motivation.
Practice Gratitude
In fact, the more we practice gratitude, we will be blessed with more blessings from the Almighty God. We can also unlearn this comparison mentality, and instead opt to be thankful when someone tries to pit us.
Therefore, always be thankful for what we have and strive to be a better person than who we are yesterday.
Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius
