If we told you you’re doing just fine in life, would you believe? Probably not. None of us would, to be honest. Because, look at all these people around who have it all sorted, you know what they want to do in life, these people who are younger than you and are still much more successful, these people who are already buying their own cars and houses while we’re still shuttling between jobs. See the place that thought just put you in? That’s exactly where we all go wrong. That’s exactly how we jeopardize our happiness and mental peace.
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There comes a time in our lives when we feel that we’ve lost the grip, that life has slipped away and we’re lagging too far behind to ever be able to catch up. You’ve already lost the race; it seems, before even hitting your peak. Only, life isn’t supposed to be a race. You’re not supposed to be racing against other people. You didn’t come to this world to compete. So, step out, because you never really signed up for this rat race. You’re meant for so much more. Step out before a new hoard comes from behind and drags you further along, against your will.
If you truly believe no two people in this world are the same, why would you
compare your own success to anyone else’s? We’re all born in different times; brought up by differently, taught different values, asked to develop different interests and passions. Our personalities are shaped by all that we’ve seen so far, our circumstances unique to our lives. Nobody knows what it’s like to be in your shoe. Nobody knows the financial troubles you faced while growing up, nobody knows the mental stress you had to deal with, nobody knows how many times luck screwed you over, nobody knows how many times your dream has been snatched away from you, nobody can ever know how much strength it takes to still carry on like you have. And that’s why it’s unfair to compare your own life struggle with someone else’s.
People who work hard always get their due, some day or the other. It may seem like others around you have achieved all their dreams and maybe they have, but comparing yourself to them will only burden you more and distract you from your own goals. So what if it’s taking you longer? You’re unique, you’re you. If life had to turn out for you the way it did for anyone else, how would your success story be any different from theirs?
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Not everybody has the same priorities in life. For you, it may be a successful career, for that friend on your Facebook timeline, it may be to start a family, and for someone else, it could just be living every day to the fullest, without worrying about jobs and savings! To compare yourself to anyone else around is unfair to both, you and them.
It’s strange how every time we look at someone, it’s only their success story that comes to our mind. Nobody ever talks about the struggle they may have gone through – the part that could comfort each one of us in all our failures, the fact that we’re all in the same waters, that we’re all imperfect, that we’ve all failed at some point or the other, that life is equally harsh to all of us. While you’re being jealous of their success, only they know how hard they’ve worked to earn it. But that’s how it is – we only see what we see. Probably, someone else is looking at you right now and thinking the same.
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Competition inspires. It motivates. Comparison only pulls you down. No achievement can ever be big enough if you compare yourself to others, for there will always be someone more successful than you, someone who’s already done it before. But you didn’t take up photography because you wanted to be the best. You did it because you loved capturing life in pictures, remember? Since when did it become about beating the world to the top? Success is how you define it, not what the world wants you to believe.
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No, we’re not saying real happiness lies in accepting your fate. You should be working hard, by all means. That’s what drives us all to do better, to get where we want to in life. We just need to set our standards ourselves, instead of trying to be like other people because, that’s never going to happen. Be true to yourself for if you don’t value yourself for who you really are, the world really knows no better.
Source: © Unsplash (Main Image), Mensxp, RRG