The Dangers of Comparing Ourselves to Others
The following article is from CardinalWorks Author Charlene
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But I started to feel the pressure. While researching, I noticed that some parents were homeschooling because they wanted their children to advance more quickly. A friend said, “My 3rd grader is 4-6 years ahead of the public school kids, but he’s a little ‘behind’ in comparison with kids homeschooled from the beginning.”
I caught myself putting on my running shoes and getting ready for the race, thinking, “How can I accelerate my son’s learning so that he can be on top?”
As human beings, we have an innate drive to compare ourselves to others as a way to evaluate ourselves. Sometimes social comparison is great; it motivates us to improve. But more often than not, it evokes feelings of dissatisfaction, guilt, inferiority, shame, etc. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is a thief of joy.”
Growing up, I was no stranger to painful moments of feeling inferior as the youngest with two older sisters in the family. My eldest sister was 6 years older than me. She was beautiful, smart, eloquent, and knew how to capture the adoration of everyone, especially the grandparents. My grandmother was very fond of my sister who was a mirror image of herself, both having the typical Shanghainese fair skin, and she reminded her of her youthful days.
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Photos: Charlene Ng, Unsplash
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