“Comparison is the thief of Joy.”

The above quote is often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and C.S. Lewis. Regardless of who first penned those words in that particular order, the statement has been true since the beginning of the human condition. If you endlessly compare your performance to others, and use that comparison to give you your self-worth, you will be fighting an unwinnable battle. Because when you are constantly competing with someone else, with something that is out of your control, you will be endlessly disappointed. Because your performance on any given thing changes. How much money you have, how nice of a car you drive, how tall you are, how skinny you are, how ugly you are, what family you were born into, how well you do on a test, how well do play a game etc. No matter how good you are at X, there will always be someone better than you at X. Now, this doesn’t mean you should not strive to compete. There is nothing wrong in competition and comparison in and of themselves. There is nothing wrong with winning or losing a basketball game. There is nothing wrong with making more money than someone else. I know rich people who are generous and I know poor people who are greedy. Your heart has nothing to do with an external number in some digital account. You should strive to be better, to know more, to create value, beat the other person in a competition. As long as your self-worth is not tied to that external number. You are you whether or not you win or lose that basketball game or get that big sale. You are valuable just because YOU ARE. You are worthy and loved simply because you exist.