Love yourself
The captain of the football team who girls constantly flock around, the social butterfly who’s invited to every party, the friend who has everything figured out for themselves — these confident, exuberant personalities haven’t sprung up suddenly. Ask anyone who’s been through college and they’ll either smirk at the mention of these types of people or boldly go on to tell you a story or two showcasing their own popularity from those times. What I’m trying to get at is that no one is immune to this. We’ve all felt ourselves pale in comparison to other people. And, to be honest, there’s no end to this comparison game. Unless, of course, you choose to take yourself out of the game altogether. Let’s see how you can do that.
Comparison is a thief
The first, most important step is to be aware of the comparisons taking root in your mind. Do you feel like someone looks better? Speaks better? Is funnier or more popular than you? If you feel these thoughts cropping up, remind yourself that just because someone else is better than you at something, it doesn’t make you any lesser. We have all been gifted with our own sets of talents. You probably have a skill that you’ve mastered that everyone else would be in awe of.
Appreciate what you see
One practice that has helped time and time again is to acknowledge the talents and goodness in other people. Once you begin to look at them with appreciative eyes, they no longer appear as competition. If someone performs well, give them a genuine compliment instead of wishing you could have been in their place. Cultivating an appreciative attitude will help you look at people in a different light. Instead of comparing yourself to them, you will now be able to see that they are blessed with their own gifts and talents, and this doesn’t diminish your gifts and talents.
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Pearl Mathias loves the little joys in life. Cups of warm tea, soulful conversations and flowers in all shapes, sizes and colours make her come alive. If her nose isn’t buried in a book, you’ll find her scribbling down the ramblings of her mind or writing notes to people she loves.