# Sounds cliche but seriously.... stop!

http://i.imgur.com/iJUKMH6.jpg

and I say this as life long comparer. I only recently realized how seriously harmful it is to every aspect of our lives to live in this mind-set. I don't just mean physically either I mean comparison in all ways. I will try to break down each way a bit.

## Comparing ourselves physically to others.

Obviously seeing fit people and following people we admire can aid in our success so let me just say admiration is one thing. I am talking about the type of comparison that is self degrading. But really, comparison should be taken out of the equation entirely. It's one thing to think "I can't wait to also be fit!" but if we are comparing we are thinking "I can't wait to look like them!" which is a losing battle. Try as I might I am never going to have the body of Mila Kuniz and comparing myself to that will only affect my progress negatively. 

#### If we compare ourselves to something unattainable we will be more likely to fail.

We are literally setting ourselves up for failure. "I can't wait to look like THEM" and 6 months of daily work outs and salads later and we are fit but we are still us and not them. We should never be trying to physically become someone else because unless we have hundreds of thousands to spend on plastic surgery it isn't possible. And if we do have hundreds of thousands to spend on plastic surgery and want to look like someone else entirely perhaps that money would be better spent on other things like therapy and actively helping our community? So stop looking at the other guy, be you! Once you stop comparing yourself to others you can really start loving and nurturing yourself properly. :D Trust me! 

### Comparing our creative work to others. 

http://i.imgur.com/6RJzZZs.jpg

I spent a lot of my time as an artist looking at my favorite artists and wanting to be as good as them. Practicing for hours and hours and inevitably hating everything that came out of me because it wasn't as good as the other guy's art. This was wasted time and all it did for me artistically was box me in and keep me from finding my style. It made me hate my work. Sure it made me practice really hard but passion could have done the same thing without creating in me this fiery hatred for my own work. So, look at other people's work for inspiration and not as a way to belittle your own work. Just keep practicing and you will get there. Something that really helps me artistically is to keep old art and compare my art to my other art years apart. Then you can see how much you have improved! :D 

#### *So when it comes to comparisons the only person who should be trying to "outdo" is the old you!* 

Yeah, yeah, I am full of cliches. 

### Comparing lives, families, and wealth. 

http://i.imgur.com/uhCReW8.jpg


This is the most insidious of all. As many of my followers may know I had a really, really traumatic upbringing, a neglectful family, and a life full of poverty. So for many years I bitterly compared my life to that of my friends of people I didn't know. I played this fucked-up dialogue in my head of "Why do they deserve a family and you don't? Why do they get to have a life where they aren't starving and poor and you didn't? Why did they not get abused and you did?" and how in the heck is that dialogue going to help pull me forward in life?? It won't. It will only hold me back and also cause me to be really bitter and angry. And those are ugly traits to possess. 

#### Don't worry about what other people have. Simply work your damned hardest to get to where YOU want to be. 

We can take all that gross energy and put it in a better place. Meditate, work out, improve ourselves and work really hard at whatever we are passionate about. Break the chains we let our past, our situation, and our insecurities imprison us in. We only have so much time on this rock and we all have dreams and aspirations and the way to get there is never going to be by looking over at the other guy's life, plate, wallet, or body with jealousy and contempt. Drop that shit right now. You are YOU and diversity is awesome! Just work on not being a jerk and being better than yester-you and you will be much happier! 

Also, I don't want it to sound like I am all high and mighty. I am human. I just decided to start taking note of myself when I start to go into the comparing head space and tell myself to cut it out. And over time it is getting easier and easier and becoming second nature to not compare myself to anyone. 

http://i.imgur.com/xIz8q22.jpg
*A picture of bubbles because I love bubbles and bubbles = happy which is what we will all be when we stop comparing!* :D 

### So go be happy, go be yourself, go live YOUR life fully!