Please Stop Comparing

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day - full of hope, opportunity, and promise! - begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! :)

I want to challenge us, all of us, to stop comparing ourselves to others. Please, commit to one week...no comparison. No what are they doing? No looking at the other person, picking them apart, trying to prove our adequacy. No looking at the other person, seeing all they can do, fighting for our inadequacies. No, for this next week, please stop comparing and simply strive every day to become the best we are capable of becoming, individually.

How's that for flying out the gate this morning?! :) Kev is fired up! I was a part of a talk earlier this week where we were talking about philanthropy, giving. Over and over again it came up how we compare ourselves to others - "This gift isn't a big gift", "I am not one of your big donors", etc. Says who?! You are not here, living this life, to compare yourself to me or anyone else, and nobody else is here to compare themselves to you. We are given this one life to live to the very best of our own abilities...simple as that!

One of the really sad things with comparison is we let it become this big bad monster that we let stop us from doing what we can do. Think about this; what if the Harlem Globetrotters looked at Michael Jordan and said, "We can't be as good as him so we aren't going to play basketball." The Harlem Globetrotters brought joy to millions. They brought families and friends together. If they don't play basketball because they can't be Michael Jordan, none of that happens. Think about it...

Each one of us is given different gifts, abilities, and resources. They are for us to live this life fully - to pursue the greatness that is within each one of us, individually. It is up to each one of us to develop and use them to the very best of our ability. It has nothing to do with anyone else! It is about each one of us striving to reach our individual potential!

Two things tend to happen when we compare:

1. We look at others, see that we are not able to do things they are capable of doing, and we get down on ourselves, become discouraged, and sadly, often times we don't do what we are capable of doing because we can't do what they do. I wonder how many lives could have been impacted in an incredibly positive manner if the person who did nothing because they felt they weren't good enough had just shown up and brought the best that was within them.

2. We look at others, see that we are better at doing something better than they are - we are all better at doing some things than others...we all! - and we get this inflated sense of self importance. Success is not being better than someone else; success is becoming all that we are capable of becoming. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, what if we compare ourselves to the potential that is within us. We all have a ton of potential...will we die with a ton of potential or will we have exhausted it? I pray I die having nothing left to give!

I want to share a few quotes and scriptures with you. I respectfully ask that you really let them speak to your heart, think about them, pray about them, and then choose your path.

"Our problem is that we make the mistake of comparing ourselves to other people. You are not inferior or superior to any human being...you do not determine your success by comparing yourself to others, rather you determine your success by comparing your accomplishments to your capabilities. You are 'number one' when you do the best you can with what you have." - Zig Ziglar

"If you compare yourself to other, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself." - Max Ehrmann

"God gave you your own race to run, stop comparing yourself to other people. They have their race and you have yours. Run hard and don't quit." - Lecrae

"Try not to get lost in comparing yourself to others. Discover your gifts and let them shine." - Jennie Finch

"Stop comparing yourself to other people; you are an original. We are all different and it's okay." - Joyce Meyer

"Each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your accomplishments without comparing yourself to others. Assume your own responsibility." - Galatians 6: 4 - 5

"We wouldn't put ourselves in the same class with or compare ourselves to those who are bold enough to make their own recommendations. Certainly, when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves to themselves, they show how foolish they are." - 2 Corinthians 10: 12

"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." - James 3: 16

"A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot." - Proverbs 14: 30

You, Dear Friend...the one reading this right now; YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made! YOU were created on purpose for a great purpose! YOU are enough! YOU lack nothing! Please stop comparing and simply pursue the greatness that is within you - abilities, gifts, and resources! Give it one week...and then perhaps two. We string this together and we will have lived this life well!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! :)

Kev