A proverb I remember telling my children is that “ the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.” Like me, they sometimes wanted to be living someone else’s life...
Reading the second last chapter of the book, the Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything - the book I’ve enjoyed reading over the past winter, I’ve been reminded that we all compare ourselves, and our lots in life, to the lives of others.
“One tends to compare one’s own life, which is always an obvious mixture of good and bad, with what one falsely perceived as the perfect life of the other. In this way, we minimize our own gifts and maximize the other person’s.
“Ironically, we sometimes do the opposite with problems... and struggles: we maximize our own and minimize the other person’s... Likewise, other people, we surmise, face no real problems in their lives. Or if they do... their problems are not as bad as ours.
“But no one leads a charmed life... Every house has its problems...”
Reading these words reminds me to be thankful... Comparing distorts our perspective - and does not bring happiness... Being thankful is the only thing that brings joy!
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