Day 2 - Comparison

There is a popular meme floating around Instagram right now that says, "I will not compare myself to other's on IG."

We are all guilty of doing it though. I'm sure you're wondering what comparison has to do with balance right? EVERYTHING!

When I was an expectant mom it was birthing stories that were compared. Then as a young mom, it was parenting experiences. Then as a homeschooling mom, a wife, a daughter, a female..... the list is endless.

I discovered, much later than I wish, that my life was being lived based on comparison. Experiences with God, faith, parenting, even my height! I'm short, and on the smaller side. Boy can other women be cruel. Like I had any say in my height or appearance or metabolism. Anyway.....

Spending my time watching everyone else inevitability led to some pretty big insecurities in my world. I've never really been one to care what other's thought, but it would be nice if they thought nice things. SO, I felt compelled to create a life that looked like what someone else may also want. That way, when the comparison game started, I at least wouldn't be the one person no one else wanted to be.

To be fair, I had some other, larger, more pressing, issues that also led to some of these comparisons and insecurities. I'll save that for another day.

Most recently comparison reared it's head in IG land, and obviously I'm not alone. I can guarantee you Pinterest would either beat IG or come in a super close second! We scroll through picture after picture of awesomeness. Then we look at what we have created, or decorated, or lettered, or journaled, or whatever, and we wish we were better.

Balance in life though begins when we stop comparing ourselves, our gifts, and our lives, to those we see around us...and definitely those on social media. Comparison ultimately leads to being busier than necessary, or feeling less than, simply because.

I have a friend who shared that watching my IG posts made other people feel exactly this way! Each day I would share pictures of all the things I was doing and making. And since we're in harvest season, the making and canning is abundant.

I felt bad for a little while. I truly did not intend any harm. Here again though, comparison came to be. While I may not alter my photo's for IG, or stage things for that perfect picture, my life had some how appeared to be too good, and led to other's feeling bad. Comparison.

My life will quickly spiral out of control if I run around trying to decorate my home like some of the people I follow on IG, or spend all day trying to letter as well as people who do it as their full-time income, and again on goes the list.

I will choose today to be content with my gifts, my skills, and my life. This will bring some balance into my life, as I focus on what is in front of me, for my hands to do. At the very least I won't feel like a crazy person!!!