Me vs. you: the battle

Two things prevent us from happiness; living in the past and observing others.

How do you measure success? Do you look up to someone of a similar age and compare your accomplishments to their own? Sometimes a little healthy competition can be good, it keeps us motivated to achieve great things and to be our best selves. Opposing sports teams keep the pressure on each other to train and refine their skills. There’s really an infinite number of ways we can analyze how we measure up to others, but what happens when you begin to compare too much of yourself to others?

When we boil it down to the most simple form, everyone is striving for one thing; happiness. Happiness comes in many forms, but the ways we achieve it tend to look the same: a good-paying job, a nice home, some frills here and there, but comparison can lead to heartbreak and can cause us to take something wonderful and turn it into a burden.

Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing, and your attitude when you have everything.

Instead of observing the lives of others and analyzing what they have compared to what you have not, appreciate your own journey and where you find yourself in life. Undoubtedly you’ve overcome some pretty major obstacles to achieve something important to you so turn this moment around and find ways to appreciate what you do have.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are jealous, frustrated, or are passing judgement, try to understand their battle. Why do you feel this way? Is it because of something they did to you, or is it an underlying problem with the way you perceive something yourself. Each of us fight our own battles and overcome numerous obstacles. When we seek to understand others instead of placing judgement, we learn to appreciate the circumstances.

Look in the mirror, that’s your competition. Your heart may be in the right place with your feelings towards others, but it’s important to process the feelings in a constructive and healthy manner.