The "joy" thief (shoo it away!)

About to get something off my heart, so scroll down for a good ol' chit chat about something we ALL do sometimes:) 

Who is the "joy thief"? 

It is not person. Nor something you can see or touch. In fact, without physically "holding" it with your bare hands, you can carry it with you wherever you stroll! Huh? How does that make sense? 

The answer? COMPARISON. 

Theodore Roosevelt's words are, " Comparison is the thief of joy". 

We all do it, don't we? We've been trained to compare ourselves to others since the classroom days: Am I below average? Average? or Above Average? "How did you do on the test?..Oh me? I got a solid B.."

Comparison robs you of your joy because you may think your lack of 'x , y , z' means you're behind in the "race". This life is not a race! There's no such thing as a "life winner" (even if you think someone else has life figured out, they don't. No one has). 

I remember feeling behind in the "race" at 13. After P.E, I watched the other girls swipe on their mascara in the school bathroom and I felt like I wasn't "grown up enough" because I was teased for being a "flat chest", wasn't as "boy crazy" as other girls seemed to be, and I wasn't wearing any makeup at the time. What a silly thing to think I wasn't "grown up enough" (especially at age 13 haha!). 

Since coming home from my 18 month church mission, I've realised that life isn't a 1, 2, 3 "ladder". I used to think I had to accomplish "this and that" by the time I would be age "x" because that's what people did?? 

Every one of us is living our own story, unique and personalised to one's self and no one else's. It's too easy to fall into a toxic thinking that tells you, "Bob bought a house. You should be buying a house", "Susan wrote a book. Where's your award-winning novel?", "Sonya did her morning meditation. But didn't you sleep in?". STOP comparing your life to others! 

Since you're the only one living YOUR life, you're killing it! You're succeeding! You're "winning";)  I've learned that my life is going to look a bit different to what I planed it to be and that's a good thing! It will look different because I'm the one living it (not Bob, Susan, Sonya). No one else can live my life for me. 

Get rid of "Then I'll be grown up enough" thinking. What does that even mean? "Grown up enough doesn't exist". It's like saying, "I'm human enough?" 

To conclude my jumble of thoughts, just remember: Life isn't a race. We are not competing with each other. No one has life figured out. We're all trying to figure out life. But not "life" as a generalised concept. No. Your unique life, perfectly crafted with it's high mountains and low rivers, just for you. 

for you.