Stop comparing yourself to others
Are you one of those who feel inferior because others are better than you? Here’s story for you as shared by the Life-Moral Stories website.
“ A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day, he saw a swan. “ The swan is so white,” he thought and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.” He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot which has two colors. I now think that the parrot is the happiest bird in creations.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.” The crow then visited the peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “ Dear peacock,” the crow said, “ You are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoved me away. I think you are the happiest bird in the planet.” The peacock replied, “ I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on this planet. But because of my beauty, I am trapped in the zoo. I have examined the zoo and I have realized that you crow, is the only bird not kept in the cage. So for the past few days, I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”
What is the moral lesson of the story? Our source states, “That’s our problem. We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what God has given us. This kind of thinking leads to vicious cycle of unhappiness. Learn to be happy of what you have instead of looking on what you don’t have.”
Life coach Daniel Tempesta of Huff Post Healthy Living website, believes that we should stop comparing ourselves to others. She cites the following reasons:
It’s damaging to your sense of self. Mark Twain once said, “Comparison is the death of joy.” Researches have found that comparing breeds feelings of envy, low self-confidence, depression as well as compromises our ability to trust others. On the other hand, comparing ourselves to those less fortunate can provide some benefits to one’s self, but this form of comparison has a price. It shows that we take pleasure in someone else’s failure or misfortunes in order to feel adequate which can fuel mean-spirited competitiveness.
It doesn’t actually help you accomplish your goals. Thinking on how someone else is better looking or successful is both time-consuming and ineffective. Being hard on ourselves actually zaps motivation and decreases goal completion.
Remember comparing yourself to others is a losing battle. In this game of life, you will never reach a point where you are better than others in every way. Why not redirect your energy and attention to your own goals and what you want to achieve?
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