´óÏó´«Ã½

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julia Loveless, singer & writer

COMPARISON

Good morning.

Picture a small child opening a present on Christmas morning. They tear off the wrapping to find an incredible dolls house, complete with a little family and furniture. They are over the moon with excitement and joy - they start playing with it immediately. Their joy is still palpable as they run to their best friends’ house next door to tell them about their present. But as they enter, they see their friend unwrapping an even bigger dolls house. Immediately, the joy they felt unwrapping their present, evaporates.

This, my friends, may be a crude example, but it illustrates the power and danger of comparison. I think most of us, as adults, like to think that we are beyond childish comparison. We’ve grown out of it, surely. But one conversation with a friend who has a higher promotion, took a more exotic holiday or even just seems to laugh more than we do and we find our feet on that slippery slope down to disappointment and jealousy.

We seem to hold these invisible measuring sticks next to us and every time something in our life doesn’t measure up to what we see in another’s, we grind our teeth, complain and despair. The joy that we could have experienced, eludes us. Comparison is the thief of joy. And we, like naive homeowners, leave the door wide open for the robbery.

And yet the antidote is so simple; gratitude. Today I remember to give thanks for every aspect of my life. And like a shield against the temptation of comparison, I lift up my gratitude so that my joy may be secure. Amen.