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Today's
quotation:
Never
judge your strength by comparison, because there is always going
to be someone who is more experienced than you. Judge by
your
dedication to what you do, and your ability to make
progress. And even
if there is someone better than you, use that as motivation, and
strive
to become better, because that's what they did.
Aaron DeCamp
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Today's
Meditation:
I really
like to run, and I like to compete in runs. That
said, though, I don't like to worry about what place I
came in. I don't compare myself to the people who
are faster than I am, other than to think, "that
person is faster than I am." The same with
those who run slower. At my age and given the fact
that my body is what it is, I'm never going to be as fast
as many other people, and that's fine with me. I
still have fun at races, and no matter what place I get, I
know I've done my best for that day, and others have done
their best, too. Next week, my best may be better
than his or hers-- and maybe not.
When
we compare ourselves to others in an effort to judge our
own performances, we face the risk of being overly
critical of ourselves and harming our future
performance. I love to write, but I'm not a popular
writer who's able to make a living at it, and that's fine
with me. I'm going to do what I do to the best of my
ability, and I'm not going to be overly critical of myself
or my work just because someone else sells more copies of
their books than I do. If I were to make that
comparison, I would face frustration, resentment, and
possibly even
anger, and those are things that I don't want to be
feeling.
Of
course, sometimes comparisons can help us, as they can
motivate us to be better and do better. If I see a
teacher who does something more effectively than I do,
then it's up to me to find out what I can do to improve my
own performance. If I do so, that teacher is an
inspiration. If, however, I get down on myself for
not being as good as that person, then my comparison is
more harmful than helpful. I can't tell you how many young
people I've heard say, "I'm horrible at that,"
even though they've tried something only once or twice,
simply because someone else does it better.
Things
are as they are, and the vast majority of times, it
doesn't matter how they compare to other things. If
we're going to compare ourselves to others, let us do so
in order to learn about our potential rather than to get
down on ourselves for not being more, or not being
better. We don't deserve to feel the negativity just
because someone else does something really well.
Let's give them credit for having worked to get good at
something rather than criticize ourselves for not having
the same experiences or skill sets.
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