A bug called ‘Comparison’!

A lot of times, there’s nothing wrong with our present. Everything is fine, until… we get bitten by that bug called comparison. Read on…

Situation	Comparison	Effect
On a holiday. Checked in to a hotel – Neat, clean, spacious room. Pretty good.	On a previous holiday, the hotel had more cool features and a bigger bed	Happiness goes down a notch. Can’t appreciate the hotel for what it has. Immersed in thoughts of what else could’ve been better.
Birthday party. Lots of people wishing & celebrating. Cut a cake.	Last year I cut 3 cakes and had a surprise party.	The joy of this year’s celebration goes down a notch
Posted a picture on Facebook. A lot of people ‘like’ it.	A friend’s picture has more likes.	Unhappy that the popularity is not as great as the friend’s.
Good review rating and great increment for the good work done in office. Very happy.	A colleague gets promoted	Engulfed by sadness as to “Why not me”?
Bought a new house. Really put in lots of efforts & money to buy it. It was a dream come true.	See pictures of a friend’s house, much more lavish and beautiful.	Start feeling burdened by how much more hard work is required to get there. Completely miss out on the goodness of the present house.
Food cooked by spouse is really great. Enjoy the luxury of home-cooked healthy and tasty meals	Not as good as Grandma’s food.	Fail to appreciate spouse for the good food every day.
A child does a really cool piece of art work. Impressive.	Just saw another kid who had done something more creative.	Don’t feel as excited in appreciating the child’s work anymore.
A healthy body. Indeed something to be grateful for.	Not as pretty/handsome as the person next door.	Totally miss out on experiencing the joy of having a healthy body.
Getting into a meeting feeling very confident.	Suddenly you see someone you think as very smart and impressive and a senior leader in the organization.	Starting to feel more nervous and less confident.
Delighted to be enrolled in classes to learn a new skill.	Speed of learning is not as good as someone else.	Completely miss out on the joy of learning. Instead, land up feeling pressurized.

Quite often, we aren’t happy not because what we have isn’t good; but because we compared it to something that was apparently ‘better’ in our opinion. If the bug called comparison is a recipe for your success and drives you to do more, go for it. But if isn’t, drop it. Imagine this – you put in a lot of effort to do something but someone doesn’t appreciate you because they compare you to another. It doesn’t feel right, does it? It is only fair that people appreciate you for what you have to offer rather than compare you to others and miss out on your excellence.

Sometimes comparison may be a strategy to regret. A mechanism to feel bad and tell yourself you are not as good as someone. And this someone will always be there. But should that prevent you from being happy with yourself and what you have?

Note: Being happy with yourself does not equal to being complacent. One can be happy and strive for greater things in life. The pursuit of excellence comes from a place of knowing your own potential than anything else. And a happy person is more likely to get what he wants. Just remember to enjoy the ride while aspiring to reach your destination.