When Comparison Steals Joy: Relearning Contentment
Let’s be so honest with each other for a little bit, we all compare ourselves at one point or another. This February theme came to me after a reel I saw on Instagram. With Valentine’s Day coming up I thought it important to focus on ourselves a little bit before sharing the love to everyone else! It’s also the dead of winter in the Midwest, we’re all feeling some degree of the winter uglies, whether it’s uglies in our current location, our own appearances, or a perceived missing thing. Comparison is a sneaky little guy, it can start as motivation but end up stealing your joy and peace.
How comparison changes the way we see ourselves
Social media is a helpful tool; it can give you ideas on how to plan your vacation, hair extension inspo, keep up with your friends, even what your life could look like if you had that one missing thing, etc. It’s so unbelievably easy to develop a mindset of scarcity, constantly pining after the next thing, vs resting in gratitude. We begin measuring ourselves against someone’s highlighted version of their own life (pun 100% intended). This is your reminder, social media, all social media is just someone’s curated highlight reel.
Contentment is learning to rest in genuine joy
Genuine joy doesn’t mean skipping over any desires or goals you have for yourself. Contentment is surrendering to the fact that you aren’t perfect and you never will be. What a true relief and release of pressure that is! I want to challenge you this month (and all the others) to start giving yourself grace in that you aren’t perfect and it’s also okay to have healthy desires and goals without coveting what someone else has on social media. Our peace and contentment tanks fill up when we decide to get off the rat race of comparison. I need that reminder too!
Stewardship gets neglected when we choose comparison
What a blessing it is to have responsibilities/ things entrusted to us. The ugly part of the comparison rat race? We lose sight of what’s in front of us in our own lives and neglect what’s been blessed to us. A little pro tip from me - if you’re looking to end the slump of comparison, ask yourself, “What can I do right now to best steward what I have?” When you start looking outside of yourself, it calms the rat race.
I want to leave you with this: joy is a choice! You can rest in the fact that you’re not meant to be perfect and you never will be. Thank goodness!!!
Happy early Valentine’s Day! Love you, mean it!!!
Chlo