Comparison....GO AWAY!!!!!

It is a pretty day.  

The sun is not out.  

In fact, it is cloudy and looks like it might rain.

But the day has a nice soft breeze and everything is green from the recent rain.

So....it is a pretty day.

Each morning I go out onto my back deck with my tea or with my journal, and I sit for a bit.

I listen to the birds and I look out onto the property and see the tall wild grass, the cactus, the tiny wild flowers that have started to bloom, the old wash house with its weathered wood, the trees with their fresh leaves starting, and I smell the fresh air that fills this place.  It is my favorite part of the day.

As I sit there I often think about how so many people would cut it all down, plant grass and keep a perfectly manicured lawn.  I find myself looking at our property through the eyes of others and what they would think, and I start to pick it apart and judge every flaw.  Why?

Bruce and I placed our home in the center of a brush filled lot.  We have only enough grass for the dogs to safely walk in their fenced yard and the rest of it is wild.  We have a gravel driveway that goes from one side to the other and quite a few trees, some that have died and are laying over.  And it is beautiful to me.  It's kinda like a natural park.  But when I think of what other people would think....

it takes away my joy.  

Why do we compare everything?

I read a quote today that said

"COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY"

Theodore Roosevelt 

That is so true.

When I was a young wife and mother, I had a precious little house that I was so proud of.

We worked very hard at restoring it from its former mess and even added on an addition and an old fashioned front porch.  

I remember being told by someone close to me "if I had this house, it would be adorable".  

Why do people use comparison to lift themselves up and tear another down?

We compare our marriages, our parenting, our children, our homes, our looks, our clothes, our families, our weight and when we do........nothing EVER seems good enough.  The voices in our head tell us some really awful things that we would never let anyone say to us in person.  We are so very hard on ourselves, especially women.  

So....what shall we do?

What I love and what you love are going to be different.  God made us that way.  

WHAT I LOVE AND WHAT YOU LOVE ARE GOING TO BE DIFFERENT!!!!!!!

GOD MADE US THAT WAY!!!!!!!

If everyone looked the same and had the same personality or the same life.

THAT would be boring.

We all love different things.

And.....guess what???  

No one is perfect! 

NOT ONE!!!

That family you look at that you think has it all together...they don't, or they won't for long.  

Life is funny that way.  We all go through stuff.  I'm not even sure what the word perfect means when you use it to define people.  It's like calling a piece of art perfect.  What is thought to be a beautiful piece of art to one person, may look absolutely awful to another.  That is the beauty of life.  That is why each of us is different and loves different people, different things and has different passions.

So we really need to stop beating ourselves up because we think someone else is a better parent, or someone else is thinner, or think because a marriage failed that it means you failed.

And...if someone makes you feel like what you do, have, or who you are is not good enough.  

Just smile and walk on knowing that God made you just the way you are and He does not make mistakes.  

I think the coolest thing in the world is to be uniquely you and to absolutely LOVE who you are and what you do with your life.  Now, I'm not saying go out and do something crazy.  I'm saying be the best You you can be and know that God loves you right where you are.  That doesn't mean He won't put things in place to make changes so we can grow.  It just means He loves you just as you are and you should to. 

"COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY"

I think we need to write this down somewhere in big letters so we can see it when we are having a bad day and think, "is my day bad because I'm comparing myself to some expectation from others or myself?"

We do not have to be what others want us to be.

God will do His work in us, if we trust Him, and will make us spectaculary unique.

Doesn't that sound so much better than being some clone of another person?

So...today is a pretty day.  

I should not complain or compare it to another day that suits me more.

And....my life, my family, my home are beautiful.

I should not compare it to what others want it to be because we are all different and we all love different things.

We should not let the words of others, that are meant to tear us down, affect us.

That person who has to brag about their accomplishments, tells you your not up to snuff, or has to knock what you have, what you do, how you look, or calls you names.....  Guess what?..............

Good people don't do that.  

I only have to remind myself that my home is my own.

There is no other life that I love more than my own.

There is no other family that I love more than my own.

And above all these things, 

God has blessed me with all that I have ever needed, and I thank Him.  

He's still working on me.

He doesn't deserve my complaints and comparisons.

   This is Kiki.  She is beautiful, but not so nice.

   She had to have three teeth pulled because she broke them on another cat.  

   It's fortunate for us because she used to bite like a snake.  :/

    Doesn't she look so sweet?  Faker!!!

    Have a beautiful day everyone.

    Hugs