“Comparison is the thief of joy” I’m often spouting this about as it’s true. When you spend time comparing your life with others you lose sight of what you have. But as we end the first month of 2019 I can’t help but make some comparisons!
- January 2019 did not feel 45 days long like last year.
- This time last year I was working my notice period. Now I’m plotting on how I can make an impact.
- Last January I couldn’t not stick to a diet despite having bridesmaid duties coming up, this year I am disciplined and I don’t know who I am.
- I am about to qualify as a solicitor, last year I was stepping out on a comfortable job.
I am going to sound so cliche but 2018 was a great year for me. A year of growth. My comparisons have shown how comparing yourself to yourself is a great starting point, you can document personal growth, note your achievements and look forward to what else you hope to achieve.
Now the real tricky comparison is that one we make with others. We look at our own lives and start to despair at your own. Why haven’t I bought a property? Why am I not married? I have hardly travelled anywhere, why? Social media has been demonised as making us as a generation even more anxious. We see filtered lives and wonder why our own is not sparkly and picturesque. Recently, the social media star Patricia Bright announced that she had paid off her mortgage! Now I live at home so I could have seen her announcement as one to remind me of what I don’t to have. However, Patricia made mortgage-free life seem attainable for a wider audience not just my parents’ generation. Her revelation was good for thought for me. Whilst my main goal is to actually own a house, now I think I could get myself mortgage-free too if I want that. Two good friends have recently quit their jobs to travel and it has inspired me. I’m not looking to quit my job anytime soon but rather than feeling overly jealous (I was a little jealous) of their plans it inspired me to not be so rigid. I’m by not means looking to quit my job but it was food for thought for the future.
I recently went to an event about money and how to we should be better at it and got to talking to a girl who is currently a medical student. She was only a year younger than me and we got to talking about how it’s hard when you’re still studying and if feels like your peers and even those younger than you are further ahead! Talking to her reminded me how I felt not so long ago, frustrated that I was not on par with my peers. As we got to talking we realised that we should be more inward looking and focused on our own journey through life.
Run your own race, you will only end up hurting your neck craning to see what others are doing!