Everyone struggles or has struggled with comparison.
Especially around the holidays, it is easy to compare our lives to those we see on social media. You might scroll online and view photos of other people’s fun family gatherings, their abundance of gifts, extravagant Christmas vacations with loved ones, or holiday engagements and baby announcements.
When we compare our lives to those we see around us, we are likely focusing on the things that we don’t have. If we get into the habit of that, it can lead to poor mental health. We will start to feel anxiety and depression creep into our minds.
Some things to remember when we catch ourselves comparing our lives to other’s:
- Everyone is on a different path in life, it’s okay that yours looks different.
- Just because other people’s life looks shiny and happy on social media, does not mean that is the reality.
Some actions that we can take to fight comparison:
- Limit social media use.
- Start a gratitude journal- writing down things that we are thankful for each day can help us stay in the moment and focus on what we have, rather than what we don’t have.
Maybe life doesn’t look the way we want it to or expected it to right now. And that’s okay! We are all a work in progress and have things in our lives that we can choose to celebrate. Let’s choose to focus on the positive and celebrate the little things in life. This will greatly impact our mental health!