It is easy to look at another person's life and believe that they are doing better than us.
Someone gets a new job. Someone travels to another country. Someone buys a car. Someone gets married. Someone starts a successful business. Someone seems happy every day.
We see these moments and sometimes compare them with the parts of our own life that are difficult.
The problem is that we usually compare our complete reality with someone else's selected moments.
People rarely show every failure, argument, financial problem, disappointment or uncertainty in their lives. Social media makes this difference even more visible because people can carefully choose what they want others to see.
Comparison can also make us forget our own progress. We may focus so much on where someone else is that we fail to notice how far we have come.
Everyone has a different starting point, different responsibilities and different circumstances.
This does not mean ambition is bad. Looking at someone else's achievements can inspire us to work harder. The problem begins when comparison turns into constant dissatisfaction with our own lives.
A healthier question is not, “Why am I not where they are?”
A better question may be, “Am I moving forward compared with where I was before?”
Life is not a single race with one finish line.
Sometimes progress is quiet.
Sometimes simply continuing is progress.
Author: Asadullah Galib Al Sadi