Comparison Kills.

Happy New Year Friends & Family!

For me, this year is alllll about setting realistic goals and staying consistent, in every area of my life. In the past, I have promised you blog posts every other Wednesday. I recognized that I haven’t always delivered that. It is so very important to me that I am only producing authentic and meaningful content, especially on THIS blog. In the past, I didn’t create a realistic plan in order to deliver on my promise.

So, this year, I won’t promise a frequency. I will only promise this: To continue releasing only meaningful and authentic blog posts. Those blog posts will continue to be released on #MoWisdomWednesdays …the time of day will vary. Thanks for understanding!

Here’s the first one of the year!

Comparison Kills 

The first full week of January took me through a lot of emotions. Initially, I was full of joy because I had finally accepted that I was actually a 2nd year DPT student. Then, came the anxiety and nervousness as I prepared to start my first clinical experience. Unfortunately, my joy was interrupted by the pure heartache that I felt watching my old classmates announce that they were starting their last year of the program. It’s not that I didn’t realize that before. It’s not that I wasn’t happy for them. It was the trauma in remembering that it “should have been me” too. I’m not even gonna lie, I dropped a tear or two or three.

Eventually, I found myself subconsciously comparing my knowledge and skills to the Physical Therapist who is working with me. Not only that, but I was comparing my performance and experience to what I IMAGINED my peers were doing at their clinical sites. Can someone pleaseeee tell me how I had the audacity to compare myself to what was in my own imagination.

Galatians 6:4-5 NLT

4- “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

5- For we are each responsible for our own conduct.”

When I sat down to write in my prayer journal & talk to God, I immediately felt convicted. How dare I sit there in sadness because I decided to compare my journey to others? How dare I overlook the grace that God has granted me, the favor he has shown me, and the testimony that I have? I remembered the quote from Bob Goff that has been my email signature from the time that I started PT school. “We won’t be distracted by comparison if we’re captivated by purpose.” I also remembered the following song:

Pressure gets hot and with heat come mirages
So you think it’s cool over there
Your thirst is real
But water can’t fill what comparison kills
Mmm, He feels what You feel
So ask God to heal what comparison kills

Jonathan McReynolds – “Comparison Kills” 

It’s true, Comparison does KILL. It robs you of joy, peace, confidence, and all the other things that you begged God for. I mean, that I begged God for. Maybe this post only applies to me? …or maybe you can relate?

Have you ever allowed comparison to stop you from celebrating an accomplishment? Have you ever found yourself ambushed by the insecurity that comparison brings? Have you? Well, whenever you start to feel the side effects of comparison, I urge you to place it in the hands of God. Tell him how you are feeling. Ask him to help you focus on what he is doing in your life at this moment. Don’t let comparison rob you of the joy, peace, confidence and sanity that God wants you to have.

~ Monique Danae ~