You are Getting Robbed

Dear Younger Me,

There is a thief prowling nearby. A thief so dangerous that it will kill you. Eventually, it will kill your flesh, but it will kill something more important first…

It will kill your soul.

That thief is the temptation of comparison. Not comparing in ways that you may already expect, however. Yes, it’s bad to compare to people that might be doing better than you. Those people who you feel should be on your same “level”, but have more money, more power, and more fame.

That is not the comparison that I am talking about.

I’m talking about the comparison that is even more dangerous. It may not even feel like a comparison either:

Your idolization of the ones you aspire to become.

The reason it’s so dangerous is because it’s actually encouraged by society. The comparison game is commonly discouraged. “Comparison is the thief of joy,” is a phrase everyone has heard before. But we need to dive even deeper. We need to uncover the ugly encouragement our society pushes us to adopt.

It’s the promotion to aspire to be like the person you want to become. This line of thinking is so dangerous. Why? Because that person has one thing that you don’t have:

They aren’t you.

You need to hear this truth. Even if you are sitting across the table from the person that you aspire to become, and you could get any sum of money, or wisdom, or advice from them, it still wouldn’t be enough. Would it be valuable? Absolutely. Should you seek this out? 100%. I just encourage you to shift your mindset, because at the end of the day, it comes down to you and you alone. The wisdom, encouragement, or model of another will only go as far as you take action in adopting for your own self.

You must seize your own journey. If you compare yourself to others, you will become discouraged. Yet, if you aspire to have the things of the people that you want to become, that expectation will kill you even worse. It comes down to how badly you want to create your own path.

How bad do you want it?

Best,

Older You