A.K.A. using flowers as a comparison for comparison
Say you were to walk into a field of flowers, surrounded by endless different shapes, sizes, and colors. Would you chastise the small, light petals of a bluebonnet for not being as rich and full as those of a rose? Would you criticize a petunia for staying close to the ground while surrounded by sunflowers reaching heights of six feet or more?
You’re probably shaking your head and thinking, “well, of course not.” After all, every flower is unique—each meant to bloom in a specific way—so who are we to try and hold one type to the standard of another?
Just like an array of flowers in a vast and endless field, everyone’s growth looks different. So why then, do we find ourselves constantly comparing our growth to that of those around us? In this day and age, comparison is all around us. Especially with a number of social media platforms being such a common part of our everyday routine, we are constantly exposed to the ‘highlight reels’ of hundreds of thousands of very different people who are all in very different phases of life. In the moment, it can be hard to look at all of the fun and the success of these other people and not start obsessively comparing and questioning—wondering what it is you’re doing wrong to have ended up where you are when there are all these beautiful people doing beautiful things in beautiful places. What’s so easy to miss is that you’re also a beautiful person who’s doing beautiful things, the only difference is that where you are is where you’re meant to be in this given moment—a moment that, for you, is far different from and completely incomparable to that of anyone else you may know personally or see online. You have to learn to get out of your head every once in a while and understand that all those other people are not going to be on the same path that you are or moving down theirs at the same speed; and that’s okay.
If there is something you are working on and/or towards, one person being exceptionally good at or further along in that thing does not automatically make you any worse or more behind. There will be times in your life where you will be in the process of growing your roots and creating a strong foundation while people around you are in a place where they need to be more focused on their outward growth, and vice versa. We all grow and learn and absorb the world around us at our own rates, and that’s what makes this life we live so special. Think about it like this—it would be especially unexceptional to live in a world with only one type of flower, wouldn’t it? Every field, every garden, every front lawn and bouquet—all covered in one single flower, never getting to see or experience all the wonderfully different colors, smells, shapes, and sizes that we are so lucky to know and love. If you wouldn’t wish it on the world, don’t wish it on yourself. Embrace the unique way that you bloom and know that’s precisely what makes you so especially exceptional.
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