I find that swimming often creates a very relaxed and therapeutic time for me. I can pray, sing in my head, think about life, and hear God speak to me. In the past and YES, in the pool I have caught myself comparing my life and weight loss journey to that of someone else's. From time-to-time I have seen the meme on Instagram that says, “Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 21.”
True, I have done it, I have caught myself comparing my journey to someone else's. I would get frustrated because I didn't see the fat leaving my body or the scales reflecting it. Even the shape of my body didn’t look a certain way and I would get angry or I would get ticked off. I would evaluate everything to make sure I was doing things right. I was trying to discover the secret to losing the weight and building the best body I could.
My Focus
Did you notice how many times “I” has been used in the above paragraph? I used “I” a lot to illustrate the point that my focus was wrong. My priorities were on me, myself, and I. Everything was based in motives of selfishness. I was not concerned with the process, or what it took to bring success to those people in their weight loss journeys, or what they might have done to achieve it. I only cared about my own well being and I compared my journey to theirs. I would say to myself “I am better than them. I workout harder, my nutrition is on point, and I do so much more than they have ever done. So why am I not there yet, or how come I have not arrived?” If you and I are honest, we all have done this. Maybe it's not weight loss for you but perhaps art, music, raising kids, etc… Scripture even tells us not to compare ourselves to others in Gal 6:4,5 it states:
“Don’t compare yourself with others. Just look at your own work to see if you have done anything to be proud of. You must each accept the responsibilities that are yours.”
Playing Drums
As a drummer for 30+ years I have played in churches on worship teams, even in garage bands, that never went anywhere. I remember being on my home church’s worship team for years and thinking I was the BEST. Then two other drummers were added to the worship team. One of the guys was older, more experienced, and down right amazing. All of a sudden, all three of us were in personal competitions to outdo each other in practice or when it was our turn to play drums for a church service. I remember getting so frustrated with these other two guys, because in my mind I was the “BEST.” I hated the fact that one of the guys was older, better, and had been around the music industry for years. The other guy was just a kid. Super younger, naive, impressionable, and even popular because his dad was the church's bass player, a sound engineer, and had been in bands that recorded and traveled all over Maryland. One night after coming home, I was upset and crying in my room and I stumbled upon the above verse in Galatians. It set me free from comparing myself to other drummers, people, and everyone and every situation where I’ve compared myself to another person. Do you want to know the KEY?
My Thot: is the key to how I have overcome this attitude of comparing myself to others is realizing the personal competition that rage’s from the inside comes from a place of pride, arrogance, and selfishness. I have overcome this by realizing that there will always be someone better or more experienced than myself and I have to accept that. In the same way, there will always be someone who is looking at my journey and comparing themselves to where I am. It's my job to be a helping hand and encouragement to them and not get frustrated with them as they are going through their own journeys. If you have overcome this too, comment below and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to receive blog updates in your inbox.
Until next time grab a FREE REFILL of the King's brew @ the Soul Café.
Comments