I’m always looking for patterns and little elements that come up that may need adjustment in my life. If something is out of place, or bringing me down, I want to try and transform it or eliminate it. I want to be deliberate and intentional.
Lately, I’ve noticed something. I’ve noticed my feeling of unease and frustration when comparisons start creeping into a conversation. It seems benign at first, or may even go unnoticed. But then it starts to turn into this toxic ooze that permeates the whole conversation. It takes over.
It turns the conversation into something that it wasn’t about. It becomes about comparing the thing I was talking about, to something else. That sort of robs us from the ability to appreciate something for what it is on its own. If I observe something and compare it to something else, I have no choice but to judge the situation in order to articulate the comparison.
The act of comparing things seems to be a sure way to devalue and degrade something. It’s come up for me a lot, so here are my thoughts on the topic of comparison, and how we might choose a more life-giving path.