Are you comparing yourself to others?



It seems like the national pastime to compare yourself to others. We always had keeping up with the Joneses but now it seems like everyone is trying to keep up with people they cannot possibly keep up with. This has lead to our nationwide problem with debt, food disorders and many other ailments that are hurting us.

I know I fell into this trap when I was younger. After all it was pretty easy considering the situation I had in high school. There was a couple of child actors in my school, several kids of important Hollywood people, and a parking lot full of Mercedes, BMW's, and other expensive cars. A part of my city was filled with million dollar homes long before anyone hear the name McMansion.

In the period of time between meeting the woman who became my wife in 1998 and my father passing away in 2004, I started to realize that there was more to life than worrying about comparing myself to others.

While I may have listened to Zig Ziglar's words many times "there is only one you, you are unique, you are special, there never has been and never will be another person just like you" it took many years for those words to sink in.

Today, I try to be the best person I can be. I do not try to compare myself with others, instead I work to improve myself every day and not worry about what someone else has done or doing.

The Zen Habits blog has some suggestions on how to stop that comparing habit.