Chasing the Wind

Am I the only one that has ever wondered whether adults (or parents to be precise) compared themselves to their peers. Like as young people many of us are working or in school trying to better ourselves for the future, right? So, what happens when you reach that stage and you have nothing to show for it. I always wondered if they compared their houses, cars and those materialistic things to their peers and how they feel about it?

As a curious child, I asked my mom if she ever went through that because my mom never had much (in the eyes of the world) but she was always happy. She said to me, “do not envy other people because you don’t know where it comes from”. It was a fair answer, but it did not fully answer my question.

Fast forward to today, there was a time where I was stuck in comparison. I compared myself to people that I didn't even know from looks, clothes, gadgets, relationships and most were things I didn’t have, that inevitably made me miserable. I hated everything and I was always complaining. Whatever I had that excited me before became ‘useless’ to me. I remember I received a special item that I always wanted and when I opened it, I was super happy, I think I might have labelled that day ‘the best day of my life’ UNTIL I saw people that had a better version. All that joy and excitement instantly flew out the window and I started pointing out all the negative connotations that I could find from this item, that I didn’t see before. All that beauty and possibility faded away and it slowly creeped into other aspects of my life. You know that saying ‘comparison is the thief of joy’, it’s like I couldn’t be happy just because of a ‘small thing’ called comparison.

I was honestly tired of feeling this way, so I decided to take a walk and a verse came to me. Ecclesiastes 6:9 “enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless-like chasing the wind.” The bible being the doubled-edged sword that it is, I got dragged but it was a very much needed reminder.

I think life is not about looking at what’s lacking, if it was, we would be missing so many beautiful things right in front of us. I also don’t think it’s about comparing yourself to other people because you will never be satisfied. Be content in what you have and watch how life becomes beautiful again.

Thank you for reading