For most of my life, I've been pretty content with myself, my life, and my circumstances. Lucky for me, I never really went through any major periods of wishing I was somebody else, or more like somebody else, even in high school. I was safe in high school. It was a very small, Christian boarding school. We were all foreign kids living in a foreign country, and we all had at least that in common. It was easy to connect, to make friends, and to find my niche.
College wasn't too bad either, although I was exposed to a much bigger sea of kids from many more social classes and backgrounds, and of course, many more other girls to compare myself to. Even still, I managed to not let anything consume me- I was still happy to be me. I went through college, got married, started a family, and...discovered...Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, blogs, etc. Boom! All of a sudden I get a small (or not so small) peek into hundreds, even thousands of other people's lives! Not just my close circle of friends and a few randos, but lots of people...all happily sharing their highlight reels on a regular basis.
And all of a sudden, my house doesn't look so pretty anymore. My kids can't do what her kids can do. They took another vacation???!!!! She only buys organic everything for her family. I bet that couple never fights- they always look like it's the best day ever! Ugh...has she ever looked bad....ever???!!!!!
And the list goes on.
It's not something that is an everyday struggle for me, but man...when I'm having a bad day. Or when my kids are driving me bonkers. Or when I'm just plain bored with my circumstances...it's so easy to flip that lap top open and compare away! It's a dangerous thing, I tell you...that comparison thing. I love this quote by Teddy Roosevelt:
Short and sweet. There it is. I used to tell this to my dorm girls all the time. When we compare our lives or ourselves to others, we become absolutely consumed with what we don't have, and forget about what we do have.
Let me also clarify and say, that I absolutely think it's ok to get inspiration from other people. Personally, I love to look at fashion blogs and mommy blogs and Pinterest, etc. I love getting inspiration and ideas for different things. And I especially love people that are real about their life- the ones that don't just show the highlight reel. (Side note- I also get super irritated with the people who only complain about all of the negative things happening in their life on social media...all the time....ugh!)
But at the end of the day, I have to be myself, and so do you.
I love decorating...but there's no way I can always keep up with the constantly changing trends. I would love to make my family the most healthy, delicious, sprawling meals every night- like that's going to happen. I want to be the perfect wife and Mom who never loses her temper and does everything right...yeah.
We all have our faults, but we all have our good stuff, too. Here's another quote that I am so in love with right now. I totally want this up in my house somewhere:
In my life, I am drawn to people who are not afraid to be themselves. Whether they are charismatic or quiet, large or small, funky or plain, old or young- no one shines like someone who happy to be themselves.
And whether you know this or not, you were made unique. You were made special. You were made with a purpose.
