The quote “comparison is the thief of joy” always makes me pause. Comparison feels so icky and I constantly need this reminder. Especially these days when there is such an obsession with social media. How often does the rabbit hole of comparison take away from self-reflection and focusing on our own journey? Probably more than we’d like to admit.
During and after a major life transition, it can be daunting to sit with your feelings of fear, sadness, and/or anger. It’s much easier to start looking at photos of other people’s lives, wondering how the heck “they have it all.” And do they? Who really knows. But, the more important question is, why does it matter? You can control where you place your attention. If we all spent even half as much time working on ourselves as we did comparing ourselves to others, I think we could slowly start to take control again of our joy.
It’s hard to sit with pain and focus on our own well-being. After a divorce, individuals are truly trying to figure out who they are and how the divorce has affected them. Comparing your divorce to someone else’s divorce or to someone else’s marriage does not help. Taking a deep dive into your own situation and gaining more self-awareness about how you react to stressful situations and how you show up when new opportunities are presented to you is much more productive and important. Because it’s not easy to embark on this self-reflection alone, coaches can be a great resource to keep you on track and hold you accountable. Having a teammate during this discovery process can do wonders in shifting your attitude and decreasing the amount of time spent comparing yourself to others.
If you want to learn more about the coaching relationship and how it could give you the extra push that you need right now, do not hesitate to reach out for a complimentary call. Take control of your thoughts and let’s start to bring back your joy.
-JH-