Is Comparison draining you?

‘Come on, you need to improve. Look at your friends, how well they are scoring.’ This is the usual statement ringing in students’ minds. Not just at school, at the university, at the work place; literally everywhere constantly we are compared, pulled and pushed. But none of us stop by and ask, ‘Why should I compare with some one else? Let me compare with myself and aim at becoming a better me’.

When we are not able to bear others’ excellence, we get jealous. Comparison is the seed and jealousy is the fruit. Comparison and jealousy are actually non-existent. We create them ourselves and talk endlessly on how to overcome them. Let’s see how.

Now imagine that there is darkness in this room. Can I remove it if I want to? Can I take it to another room? No! The reason is that darkness has a negative existence. It does not really exist. If I bring light into the room, the darkness will automatically cease to exist. In the same way, thoughts in you such as ‘I am ugly’, ‘I am rich’, ‘I am getting pressurized’ etc., all have a negative existence. Jealousy has negative existence. You cannot deal with it directly. Even if you tell yourself repeatedly not to feel jealous, you cannot overcome it.

We will never meet failure if we live our lives by competing with ourselves. Win yourself with yourself, never with others. Every minute of comparison with others is a waste of time in your own progress.

Here is a simple analogy to portray this situation. An inflated balloon can be considered to be us when we compare our self with our self. This inflated balloon can fly. On the contrary, a deflated balloon, feeling drained out can be considered to be us when we compare ourself with others. This deflated balloon can not afford to take off and fly; it remains on the ground.

Once we stop comparing, we can soar high…