Comparison

Here we go again, yet another sermon at church that really made me think. Although I didn’t attend in person, I made sure to catch it on facebook live so that I wouldn’t miss it, and I’m glad I did. Although this topic happens to be something I was already aware of in my life, I never really gave it much thought until today. The topic today happens to be comparison. Now comparison can come in a variety of shapes and sizes; it can come from comparing what you have or don’t have to someone else, or keeping up with the Joneses as the saying goes. All of us like to have nice things, but the trouble comes when we get jealous of other people's nice things. It can also come in the form of comparing ourselves to someone else. This one can range from a sense of superiority to feeling inadequate compared to others. None of this is healthy.

Now without trying to sound arrogant or self serving, I would like to think of myself as a pretty conservative person. I don’t want a giant house (too much cleaning), I’ve never had to have the greatest phone or car, although there are several cars out there I’d love to have, I’m also not going to put myself in unneeded debt just to get it. All this aside, my life is not without comparison. I’m one of those people who is afraid of what people would think of me if they knew everything about me. I’m much more of a geek then I let on and I will every now and then catch myself thinking that if I were more like this person or that person then maybe things would be different for me. I know this is ridiculous but I can't help it sometimes.

One of the biggest forms of comparison I struggle with is comparing my craft, my art to other peoples or other forms of art. I love to write. I’m far from great and I sometimes struggle with that. I’ll find myself comparing writing to other art, especially more visual art. I know every form of art takes time and focus and discipline, but I can't help but feel sometimes that visual arts seem to gather more immediate praise than writing does. I’m not a visual artist, I tried all four years of high school in art class and it is just not my strong suit. On the flip side of that same coin however, I have a very active imagination. Sometimes it is a burden, but I have so many ideas for different stories floating around in there and when I put them down on paper or type them out on my computer, it frees up some of that space for more amazing ideas.

Working on our hobbies is a great thing until we let comparison sneak in and open the cage to all our self doubts. The same can be said for our day to day life. The house I live in isn’t the greatest, but it serves its purpose. I have power and water and food in the fridge, a twenty year old vehicle with almost two hundred thousand miles that gets me where I need to go every single day. I have a decent job and two amazing children, things I should be thankful for every single day. Oddly enough, I feel that this also comes back to priorities. Our first priority cannot be to ourselves or our things. For me, I need to focus more on my relationship with God, and my relationship with my family and those closest to me. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe that we should also prioritize time to work on ourselves, our passions and goals. It’s when we put that above all else is when the problems start.

Well, that's about all from this twisted mind. Take these rambling as you wish, after all, I’m far from perfect and am far from giving substantial advice. I just hope this reaches you all well and maybe, just maybe, makes you think about comparison in your own life. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject and make sure to look out for more thoughts from a twisted mind.