I've been thinking about comparing, what it means and why we do it. I think that at sometime in all of our lives we fall captive to the idea of comparing. It can create problems for a lot of people if they don't figure out what to do about it.
One of the songs that I really like is "Never Be Another You" by Jenny Jordan Frogley. One of the lines says, "Oh why do we compare, why do we even care?" And I think that is a very true statement about comparisons, because it is all really based on false thoughts.
A lot more of the comparisons that happen in the world today are from women and not men. This is a very interesting thing because of all the media and ideas how that of how people should look, it plagues a lot of women.
Like I said before, comparisons happen a lot from false ideas. We can look at someone and think, "I would love to have their clothes, jewelry, hair, etc.." But there's really nothing we can do about it, because we are each unique individuals.
In seminary the other day, we were talking about individual worth and uniqueness. We watched a video about the story of the ugly duckling. The duckling doesn't look like the rest of his family, so he runs away thinking they don't want him. Then later he looks at a reflection of himself in the water and he realizes he is a beautiful swan!
This story I feel relates to me and my situation. There have been a lot of times in my life where I have felt like the swan. Since my hand and sometimes leg can look different than everyone else, I often feel self conscious. But I've kind of begun to realize the importance and reality of individual worth, and how we need to embrace that!
A technique we can use to try and not compare ourselves with others is to love them first. What's the thought you have when you first go to meet someone? You often want to see if you're better at something, or if you're more experienced, etc. These thoughts automatically set us up to compare, but if we come into the situation ready to love them and accept them for who they are,
then we will compare a lot less!
Always have hope,
Colby
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