The Crime of Comparison
Do you often start to feel negatively about yourself after scrolling through social media images of your ideal body, face, hair, LIFE? — GUILTY! We’ve all been there. It’s SO easy to look at someone else’s post and point out all the amazing things about them that you don’t have while you point out all the things you hate about yourself. You often tend to be your own worst critic. But guess what? Believe it or not, there’s another person out there scrolling through their social media that spots YOUR post and is doing the exact same thing! We all can be found guilty of the crime of comparison. No, internally comparing yourself to others might not put you in literal jail; however, you are punishing yourself unfairly by practicing comparison.
Nothing Compares to You
The reality is no two people are identical. Even identical twins are not truly identical in every way. So why are you comparing yourself to someone when there is no comparison? Yup, you read that right. Let me say it again. THERE IS NO COMPARISON. Just like our fingerprints, everyone is unique. (There ya go, one confirmed thing you have that is truly unique!) The sooner you are able to come to terms with the fact that you are absolutely unique, the sooner you will be on the journey to self-acceptance and self-love.
Being Unique is Beautiful
There are amazing things about you that make you an individual but you might just not be giving yourself that compliment because you see you everyday. That image in the mirror is nothing new to you, until you stop and take the time to affirm those things that make you different. Those things that make you different, are what makes you beautiful and what makes you, YOU. No one else can be you. How awesome is that?! And wouldn’t it be boring if everyone was exactly the same?
When Comparison Creeps In
It’s going to happen. Sometimes it feels like it is just hardwired into us to compare. But it’s not impossible to limit these thoughts. The first step is to identify when these thoughts of comparison are creeping in. When you are able to recognize how comparison is making you feel bad about yourself, try identifying at least 3 things that you love about yourself. It can also be helpful to talk to a therapist about times your thoughts of comparison are impacting your mood or self-esteem so you can try to get to the root of the self-shaming and break out of the comparison jail your mind is in.
& Don’t forget to nourish your mind for a better tomorrow!