To whom do you compare yourself?
I find it interesting in my observations that we sometimes find incongruent people to compare with ourselves. We either look for the win in which we would compare our strengths against another’s ‘obvious’ weakness, thereby generating a feeling of good at their lack. Or, we take the other extreme of measuring our failing against someone else’s perceived strength. An example of the first is to reach down to an individual who is in need, where the reaching down is proudly evident. The second would be where we look at some “super blessed,” model, movie star or another achiever and look at our ordinary against their luxury, whether in looks, assets or abilities. Comparisons internally happen from the flagrant to the obscure. If our filter is off, we may engage in this process without realization.
Comparing with another is the arena of judgment when it comes to our interactions. When it isn’t masked with smiles or faked relationship, it is as ugly and stark as it looks in print. Usually, we aren’t so blatant in this process because blatant would clearly be wrong, but we subtly self-talk of our ‘arriving’ or conversely our improvements or lack thereof against an impossible standard.
The problem? We were never meant to compare ourselves to anyone else. Scriptural text supports this. “… When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12, NIV)
So, how do we get wise? How do we improve and get better? How do we measure and be accurate in that measurement? How do we define and get our personal emotional GPS properly established?
That is where I want to go next time.
You Don’t Have To Live; You Get To!
