Comparison is the thief of Joy

 There are days when I have felt low, angry and disgusted. The times when I question my self worth, the way I look at the world and I feel being lesser than some X, Y or Z individual. Recently, it happened to me when I was playing cricket and didn't feel 100% because there were way better players than me on the field at that particular day(imo). Forget connecting the shot, I would feel nervous even going in batting assuming that I am not good enough. As I came back home, I started questioning why is this happening, I almost got a mental fog during the moment but as I took a warm shower, got dressed up and was about to sleep I pondered on what's happening and why is this happening? Upon thinking a little deeper, I realised that this was more about my feeling of inadequacy rather than them being on the field making me nervous and insecure. It was me who was comparing someone's years of hardwork with one day of my practice. 

A lot of people there had great attacking shots but when it came to defence, blocking the ball or even striking the ball for a quick single here, there was hardly anyone who did it better than me(imo) . One thing that struck me out of that day was that I was feeling sad not because of my inadequacy but upon comparing apples to mangoes. After all, a fish cannot be judged by its ability to fly and so everyone has their own unique strengths and unique weaknesses as well. 

There are a lot of other places in my life recently that I have been comparing myself to, thinking that I am lesser than someone but honestly there are certain things I can bet on that nobody would do better than me. So comparison is just making me think in a negative way and not positive way. Honestly, even as I write this, I was thinking, but why, aren't there great writers in the world who would have written a similar thing, aren't there great thinkers in the world, but now that this is written, I believe that everyone's reason of writing is unique, somedays I write just to avoid the burden of loneliness, not to impress anyone but to express myself for myself. 

So here is to all of my friends who are reading this, feeling its the end of the world if you don't achieve so and so thing at the age of XYZ or if you don't make money as much as your neighbour or anything for that matter, stop comparing and start living. Because all of us in this world have a unique journey and hence a unique sense of the world. This might sound really preachy, but be who you are, value your own unique strengths and acknowledge and work on your weaknesses. At the end of the day there's no point to feel inadequate while comparing your starting point to someone's mid stage and there's no need to have a superiority complex by looking at someone who's just starting and you are the mid stage. Keep on working with what you have without having the need to compare.