7 Important Reasons Not to Compare Yourself with Others ...
By Sabrina • 8 Comments
By Sabrina • 8 Comments
I can think of far more reasons not to compare yourself with others than reasons to do the opposite. Why? Because comparing yourself to others makes you feel miserable, inferior, and less lovable. As the year comes to a close, try to purge all of the jealousy from your mind by remembering these key reasons not to compare yourself with others!
One of the most important reasons not to compare yourself with others is that everyone is different! But you shouldn't mourn your differences, you should celebrate them! You'll never be exactly like someone else, so why compare yourself to someone who is different from you on the molecular level?
Some things you can change; if you envy someone else's hair, you can dye yours, if you envy someone else's body, you can get plastic surgery. But envy doesn't stop at the surface. If you are jealous of someone's personality because they are more extroverted than you, or jealous of someone's intelligence because they are smarter and more successful than you, it's all really pointless. You can't change those things, because they are what make you you!
Contentment is different from happiness, because while happiness is circumstantial, contentment is consistent and comes from the inside. Once you stop comparing yourself to others, you can focus on how awesome you and your life are, then find true contentment!
Like biting your nails or cracking your knuckles, once you start comparing yourself to others, it is hard to stop. You will begin comparing yourself to more and more people—to your peers and coworkers at first, then celebrities, then models in magazines. Soon you won't be able to look at another woman without comparing yourself, and that is a slippery slope to self-hatred.
The jealousy that leads to self-hatred can, over time, turn outward. If you constantly compare yourself to one person, eventually you might become angry that she "has it all". It seems like the world is unfair (which, of course, it is) and that since you deserve more, she deserves less. This twisted thinking can even lead to hostile behavior, such as picking arguments or starting rumors. These may be actions you would never expect yourself to take, but envy causes you to do crazy things.
Honestly, who has time to sit around getting jealous of someone else? It takes time and energy to compare yourself to others, and you have so many better, healthier, and more important things to do with your life!
My mother always told me that there is always someone better and always someone worse than you. No matter how pretty you are, there is always going to be someone prettier. No matter how smart you are, there will always be someone smarter. At the same time though, you are that “someone” to someone else. It’s pointless to rank and compare everyone, because there will always be “someone”!
Now that you've read all of these reasons not to compare yourself to others, do you see how silly it is to compare people? Everyone is so different in such a beautiful way, there really is no reason to bring your self-confidence down just because you think someone is better than you! I know it will be a long journey trying to learn how to stop comparing, but it will all be worth it when you are finally content! What other reasons convince you to stop comparing?