Comparison: the means to all unhappiness.
It’s the bane of our existence; the corruption of our souls.
In all of two seconds, comparison makes us feel as if we are less than everyone else.
It puts someone on cloud nine and someone at rock bottom —neither of which is reality…
It’s often said that, “a pictures worth a thousand words,” but lately I wonder–is it really?
Can you tell from her Facebook pictures that she’s struggling with depression?
Can you tell that after her photo was taken, the false smile on her face faded back to normalcy?
Do you know that the only normalcy she has ever known is dark and lonely?
Can you tell from her Instagram that she’s struggling to find her place in this world?
Can you tell that she feels inferior to her peers and like she’s lost in the crowd?
Do you know that she doesn’t know her own beauty or her own self worth?
Can you tell from his Snapchat that his heart is broken?
Can you tell that he sits up late at night, thinking about the love of his life falling for somebody else?
Do you know that even on the nights he manages to fall asleep, he dreams about the girl that stole his heart?
A picture captures a single moment in ones life.
We don’t document the sad, the broken, or the harsh reality.
We document the moments that make our lives seem perfect.
However, sometimes it’s hard to remember that when you’re sitting at the other side of the screen…
While you sit and compare yourself to that girl on Instagram:
The one posting pictures of ice cream, pizza, burgers, and fries.
The one you constantly find yourself wishing you could look like, and be like.
The one you assume has some incredible metabolism and never has to worry about her ‘perfect’ body.
The one that you desperately wish you could swap lives with…
Well, did you know that she posts pictures of food she doesn’t eat?
That her head is clogged with rigidity, that food and fitness control her life.
Yet Instagram fooled you into believing she had it better than you.
That she was the lucky one, and life just came easy for her…
While you sit and compare yourself to that girl on Facebook:
The one that always has an adorably sweet and charming boyfriend.
The one you constantly find yourself wishing you could be.
The one you assume has the perfect life….
Well, did you know that she’s desperately trying to move on and keep living without the love of her life?
That she has yet to fall in love again, and she’s just going through the motions.
That she fakes a smile, and says, “I love you,” because she so desperately wants that to be the truth…
Yet Facebook fooled you into believing that everything worked out in her favor:
That life would be better in her shoes, that life would be better on the other side of that screen.
In this day and age, comparison has become a demon.
However, real comparison is simply impossible.
You never get the full picture, the full story, or the full truth.
You can’t compare apples and oranges; and you certainty can’t compare your life to that of another when you’ll never know the whole story…