Super-Sized Big Gulp

Have you ever noticed that some (maybe even safe to say most) women are constantly comparing themselves to other women?  Some they know and others they don’t.  Why is this?   I know you’ve probably done it once or twice yourself (if you’re a woman that is) if not all the time.   We see a beautiful woman walking tall dressed in her high heels and jeans at the library and think to ourselves, “Gee, at least I could have worn the jeans without the orange sharpie stain on them.” Or you pull up to the post office to buy stamps and see a mother get out of her spotless car and pray she doesn’t look into the passenger window of your front seat to see yesterday’s mail strewn about the seat, your gym bag, and the 7-11 Big Gulp in your cup holder.  How about the times when you run into someone you know at the grocery store and they go on and on about all their vacations and weekend getaways they just took and the big party they’re having on Saturday for their husband’s office.  You stop for a second and think to yourself, “I didn’t just get back from The Big Island, and I don’t even have 20 plates to serve dinner to my husband’s office on.”

Why do we do this?  Is it because we think someone else’s life is better than ours?  Is it because we’re feeling bad about our self-image? Do we do it to remind ourselves what our faults are in case we’ve suddenly forgotten (like that could happen)? I don’t understand it.  Whose standards are we living up to?  Theirs?  Our own?    Think about it for a minute. 

I’ve found in my life that I am drawn to people who are completely at ease with who they are and make me feel the same.  They live a lifestyle that says, “This is who I am.  Take me or leave me because I am happy to be me.”   I don’t know if I can really say that I’m this type of person, but I do appreciate and admire those who hold fast to this type of thought and belief.  They get it.  They don’t compare themselves to others (or at least it appears that way from the outside).  They have made their choices and go forth with that in their mind.

 
I don’t think we should ever compare ourselves or our lives to anyone else’s.  It’s just not healthy for our own being and spirit.  I believe we should make choices in our daily lives for ourselves and for our families that provide comfort, love and positivity (and a lot of other things too) but you get the jist of what I’m saying.  Choices are different for everyone and we lose sight of that.  Stand tall in your jeans with the orange sharpie stain on them (it was a great afternoon making cards with your best friend) and remember, paper plates are always an option and they even come with little flowers on them.

Besides, you should have seen the post office lady’s car yesterday, covered in filth from the snow storm, three McDonald’s sacks from the kids eating on the way to soccer practice, grass all over the floorboards and the front seat had potting soil all over it from the plant she was delivering to her girlfriend who was home sick.  And, her 7-11 Big Gulp was “Super-Sized”.