Ever struggle with comparing yourself with other people? If you answered no, I’m so happy for you. However, if once in a while like me you need a reminder to cut it out then there’s something I’d like you to read.
I sometimes struggle with communicating my ideas in a clear and straightforward way, so when I find someone who manages to speak the words swirling around in my head with such simple and unpretentious eloquence, I just have to share.
Below is an excerpt Emily’s Dean’s article on the topic of comparison in the age of social media. It was first published on Grit&Virtue.
Comparison. That word leaves no room for error, less room for improvement, and little room for logic. Your day might completely change for good or bad based on a little thing such as an increased number of followers on social media or the lack of attention to your latest post. But this isn’t a new phenomenon due to the invention of social media. In 1954, social psychologist Leon Festinger published his social-comparison theory, stating that we have an intrinsic desire to assess our progress by comparing ourselves to others. With Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, we’ve just managed to streamline the process.
Comparison makes a mockery out of you and me because comparison has no boundaries, no rules, no sense. Comparison asks the baker why her home isn’t as clean as the interior designer’s or the new entrepreneur why her revenue isn’t as vast as the CEO of a multi-national corporation. Comparison expects your best foot forward, then weighs you against anyone and anything to see whether you measure up. Comparison creates a hostile environment for collaboration and a dead environment for celebration. How can I celebrate the one who threatens my dream?
There again, logic is lacking in this game of comparing you and me. Somehow along the way, the other woman became not only a threat to your current status but an obstacle between you and your dream. These symptoms can be cured. But, we can’t simply kill a thing. We must have plans for growth.
I propose collaboration, community, and celebration.
We have a powerful opportunity here to make something good out of an otherwise ugly, demoralizing side effect of fear. Comparison is ready to be cured. Celebration, community, and collaboration are catching!
~ Emily Dean.
Want to read the whole article? Click here.
Does this make you see your need for acceptance and your tendency for comparison differently? It does for me.
I encourage you to celebrate who and where you are. You’re one of a kind!
May all your dreams come true with pomp and splendour!
