
Photo by Olivia Hamilton Jones <3
Hey friends!
I heard a really great quote this week that I want to share with you:
Don’t compare your insides to someone else’s outsides.
These words really resonated with me because I think that it’s very easy for us to look at the people around us and think that they have it all together. In today’s high tech world especially, we are always getting glimpses of other people’s lives. When things feel difficult in our own lives, it can very easily turn into a game of compare and despair where we start to think that we are falling short, or that we aren’t doing as well as everyone around us.
I have felt this way many times in my own life. So many times when I’m going through a hard or stressful time, I start to resent myself for feeling anxious or on edge. I find myself wishing that my anxiety would just go away, that I could just be “normal like everybody else.”
But what is “normal” anyway?! The more people I talk to the more I realize that we all have a little bit of crazy going on in our minds. The truth is that we ALL struggle at times. We all experience highs and lows. We all have feelings of peace, serenity, joy, anger, resentment, anxiety, sadness, elation, and everything in between! It is all a part of the human experience. Just because we don’t always see other people displaying these feelings outwardly, it does not mean that they are not there.
Don’t compare and despair… instead, connect and share.
Stay in your own lane and focus on living your own best life, different from everyone else’s, yet unique and perfect for YOU.
Don’t compare the realities of your life to the highlight reels you see on social media.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing that just because someone seems to have it all together necessarily means that they actually do.
Connect to your own inner thoughts, feelings, and desires, and then from that place, connect to the people around you.
Stay open and honest.
Share what you are going through.
Ask others how they truly feel.
Be receptive.
You will realize that we all have more in common than we allow ourselves to believe.
Does this resonate with you? In what ways have you been comparing yourself to others? How can you start to look at yourself and everyone around you with a little more empathy?
We are all in this together, friends!
Wishing you a week of self-compassion and acceptance.
Be well,
Ambar