NEW DAY NEW LESSON

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Life.

It’s something we’ve been gifted. It’s ours for a limited time, to do with it as we please.
 
Most of us know that it’s a precious gift, a feeling reaffirmed in times of tragedy and loss. Yet how many of us treat our lives every day with the reverence it deserves? How many countless hours do we waste with what ifs, if onlys, fear, hate, resentment, anger, worry and the mother of all evils, comparison?
 
Comparison is the only thing holding us back in life. We’re constantly comparing ourselves, what we can do or what we have with other people, what they can do or what they have. The minute we do that, we’re no longer happy with what we have. We no longer celebrate the uniqueness that is us.
 
I remember when I started blogging. I started from nothing with no expectations. Having a few hundred readers seemed like a pipe dream. Getting published in a newspaper or having a post go viral wasn’t even in my lexicon.
 
But I persisted. I got published in The Jerusalem Post, I guest posted on many blogs with huge readership I got published on The Huffington Post and my post went viral.
 
And it’s gotten harder and harder, in all areas of my life, because every step of the way I keep comparing myself to others. I’ve done many “pat myself on the back worthy” things in life, none more important than raising 5 wonderful kids along with a loving husband. I know I have some good traits and proficiency in quite a few skills.
 
Yet almost daily, I conveniently forget to be thankful for what is and I neglect to remind myself of all I have done. Why? Because I’m too busy playing the comparison game. I consistently and repeatedly beat myself up with all I can’t do, all I don’t do, all I don’t know and all I have not yet achieved instead of celebrating my life as it is in this moment with all that I HAVE done.
 
Today as I turn 45 (where the hell have the years gone???), I’m gifting myself with this very public reminder to celebrate my life for what it is and to celebrate me for who I am, faults and all. Because I only get this life for a limited time and it’s a precious gift.
 
So if you see me beating myself about anything, please remind me of all I have done and all I am. And if that doesn’t work, please feel free to kick me in the butt.
 
What about you? Do you play the comparison game?

Written by Susie

I am me and also lots of other things like a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a daughter in law, a sister in law, a friend, an oncology nurse, a blogger, a life coach in training, an avid book reader, a chauffeur, a chef, a shopper, a maid and on some days a bit overwhelmed. On this blog I share my journey of striving to see the best in everyone and everything. Strive, because I don't always manage to. Yup, I am human. I would love to have you join me in learning lessons in positivity from life.

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