”Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt
Never, in human history, have we been more poised for comparison than we are now. In about 5 seconds you can be down a rabbit hole on social media looking at all the perfectly posed pictures on social media. Many of these people are strangers or celebrities that you don’t even know in real life. You see these images and think, why doesn’t my family look like that? Why does my Christmas tree not shine like that? Why isn’t my house as clean as their house?
Friends, may I remind you, that much of what we see on social media is someone’s highlight reel? We are often only seeing what others want us to see. Most of the time, their kids were screaming in the pictures they didn’t post, their Christmas tree isn’t perfectly decorated and the corner of their homes that didn’t get photographed are filled with disarray.
We compare our messy, real, imperfect lives to other people’s perfectly posed images and think we somehow fall short. Friends, you are exactly where you need to be, doing exactly as you should be. The only person’s life you need to compare yours to is the life you lived yesterday. Are you doing more today to love yourself and your family? Are you doing more today to show up for your coworkers and friends? Are you extending grace to yourself and others?
When we stop comparing our lives to other people’s we tend to feel more satisfied and complete. My Christmas tree is not perfect, but I love it. If I spend an afternoon scrolling through beautifully decorated trees in Southern Living, I will likely start to feel as though its not all that great. What we focus on, determines the direction we are headed. Stay focused on what you have, see your life as full of joy and exactly right. Be thankful for what you do have. Worry much less about what other people have and much more about growing yourself and filling yourself with love and kindness. This world needs much more grace and much less comparison.
