Teddy Roosevelt once said that "comparison is the thief of joy." We live in a world full of technology and full of social media that gives us a way to self-present in a way almost impossible to do in person. We live in a world where comparison is an everyday ritual to the majority of us, and we don't even realize it. However, comparison could be why so many of us feel unhappy or discontent with life sometimes.
It is not rocket science to figure out that people's social media profiles are only the good angles of them (literally and figuratively). People, myself included, present themselves the best they can on social media because why would you want someone to see all the bad in your life? This is all fine and dandy until it is used for evil. When you start to compare yourself to everyone on social media, and social media alone, you are never going to feel satisfied with how you look or what you have. Comparison can start to eat you alive and make you hungry for things that seem desirable but are actually undesirable.
Everyone was created just the same, everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time, and everyone has beauty within them that is unique to them and only them. Saint Augustine said it best when he said, "Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering." Oftentimes, we get caught up in so many other things or other people, comparing ourselves to them and don't stop to marvel at ourselves. We don't realize that just being here on this earth is a miracle in itself and that each and every one of us is beautiful in our own way.
In real life we don't get the filter, we don't always get the good angles, and we don't always have the flashiest things some people flaunt on social media. Guess what? Those things fade. The good angles and the expensive things are just temporary. What doesn't fade is the kindness in your soul and the smile on your face. The flashy things will get old and you will get wrinkles, so make the best of what you have and what you were given, because life is too short to be concerned with what everyone else has or doesn't have. Comparison can be healthy in some aspects, but certainly not when it comes to your beauty. Own who you are and own what you have. Don't let the wrong things steal your sense of self-worth and your joy.
