Nobody is perfect and we are all aware of that. We all have our flaws and in a way, we are all ‘work in progress’ as we try to fix these flaws and become better human beings.

Even though we know that we will never be perfect, no matter how much we try, we owe it to ourselves, and the people around us that we love and care that we try and become the best versions we possibly can.

And that means ironing out the flaws one by one, just like how software developers iron out the bugs in their software. Sometimes I think we are like computers as well, but that is a discussion for another post.

Anyways, today I wanted to talk about one of the major flaws that I think, consciously or sub-consciously, each one of us has and that is the habit of comparing ourselves with other people.

You Vs Me

There is a natural tendency among humans to compare different aspects of oneself with the others and to try to evaluate if they are better off or worse off than them. If they are better off, they feel good about themselves, otherwise they end up feeling miserable.

This is accentuated by all the materialism that is marketed as the “modern lifestyle” by all these different companies where if you don’t have their products or services, you are somehow regarded as lower in societal status.

This constant game of ‘you vs. me’ is not only limited to lifestyle though. People compare all sorts of things like relationships, career, education, money, health and much more. Not only this, they compare even the smallest of things.

The sad thing however is that people tend to focus on what they don’t have instead of what they have. If a person has nine of ten things and he sees someone with that tenth thing, he will not be happy about the nine things, he will be sad about not having that tenth thing.

The Bane of Happiness

This habit of ours, is actually the bane of our happiness. Isn’t that logical? If you are in the habit of constantly comparing every single thing in your life with the people around you, you will constantly be left disappointed.

That’s because you simply can’t have everything in the world and when you focus on the things that you don’t have, naturally you will be sad and miserable no matter how much stuff you already have.

That is why we see even the rich people unhappy because then they are comparing themselves to even richer people even though they have everything they could possibly need.

Seriously, if you want to be happy, and I mean truly happy, just learn to be grateful for things you have already got. It might not seem like much, but sit down and make a list. I guarantee you, the list will be much longer than you ever imagined!