These two identical twins have a lifetime of comparisions ahead. It's what we do. Even though their souls are completely different yet connected, they will forever be compared in looks, height, temperament...everything. By nature. It's what we are programmed to do as humans. We feel justified in saying "this is like this, but different than this." It helps us compartmentalize things.
There is a famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt – "Comparison is the thief of joy."
Lately this has become my mantra. You see, there are lots of creative people out there. Lots of successful people out there. And sometimes – even often – I find myself holding my cards up to their winning deck to see what they have done and how much better off they are.
The problem with comparison is it shows us only a part of the story. We fill in the blanks with what we assume about their situation – they have it easier than me or they don't work as hard or they must be more likable, less sweaty, prettier, thinner...just better.
But when we start digging deeper, we find the story is bigger. We realize in the end that the pictures we were comparing weren't even the same – even if they looked alike on the outside. We were trying to make our Honey Crisp Apples apples taste like their McIntosh apples and darn it...it just wasn't working.
Once we stop comparing what we do with others and only accepting everything for it what it is – purely ours – we start to see the the joy come through. We start to feel the empathy and the compassion and the love in our own work. We begin to see how hard we have worked at everything, despite circumstances surrounding us. And we finally start to realize what we started it all the for in the first place.
So I try not to compare myself to anyone if I can help it. Sure...it slips in every now and again. But truthfully, I am better off when I see myself for who I am - right here and right now. I work hard at accepting what is and look forward to seeing what becomes.