“She’s A Better Person Than I Am.”
As humans we are always comparing ourselves to others. This is truly an exercise in futility. It is like comparing apples and oranges. Everyone is unique and should not be compared to anyone else. My four children are all wonderful in their own individual way. They each have varying degrees of skills, talents, and attributes that make them distinctly different from one another. None of them are a better child to me than any of the others.
Let me do this simple exercise with you to illustrate a very important life principle. I am going to ask you to rate yourself from "0" to "10" on whatever skill, talent, task or attribute that I mention. "10" would mean you are great at this while "0" would mean you are horrible at this. Be honest with your answers and don't be so modest or self-deprecating. I will rate myself along with you.
Okay, here we go.....Singing.....I'd give myself a 3; Cooking....I'd give myself a 4; Dancing....perhaps much to your surprise I'd give myself a 6; Basketball....I'd give myself a 6; Math....I'd give myself a 7; Writing....I'd give myself an 8 (you all may disagree with me on that one but I think I do okay:) ; Auto mechanics....I'd give myself a 2; Friendliness....I'd give myself a 9; Dependability....I'd give myself a 9 again. We could literally go on for hours naming all kinds of academic subjects, life skills and personality traits. Theoretically, if we did this for all the people in the community even the upstanding citizens as well as the people who have committed crimes and are locked behind bars, we could compute an average for each person. What do you think your average would be? How about my average? The mayor's average? The felon's average? You know what I think your average would be? It would be the same as my average and the mayor's average and the felon's average. WE WOULD ALL BE A "5"!! Yes I truly believe this! We would all be a "5"! No one is better at being a person than anybody else! If it was true that someone is a better person than you then it would have to hold true that we could start with number "1" and work our way down to number "8 billion," ordering the best person in the world all the way down to the worst person. THIS IS TOTALLY ABSURD! This is not how it works. No one is better at being a person than anyone else. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Someone may be better at singing than you but you may be better at cooking than them.
Be grateful for your unique qualities and talents and acknowledge your shortcomings. Continue to develop your talents and improve in those areas that are important to you. Don't ever say "I can't do _______." You can do whatever you want to do. In fact, you don't even have to be great at it. If you enjoy singing even though you're not a terrific singer-----SO WHAT! Keep singing! It's not someone else's decision what you do that is enjoyable or fulfilling for you. Everything in life is not a competition. Stop comparing yourself to others and start living!