Of course, I see somebody else’s food plan with their abs attached and I think that mine is wrong. I see somebody else’s success (on social media and in real life) and I think that mine is not enough. I see somebody else’s mile times and I think that my times are too slow.
It’s the human condition: to compare ourselves to others, particularly their outsides to our insides. It’s not that I think my meal plan is inferior; I think that I am inferior. It’s not that I think my success isn’t measurable or appropriate given my output; I think that I am less. It’s not that I think my times aren’t aligned with my ability; I think that I am a loser and insignificant.
Our voice is primed to tell us we aren’t; that we aren’t good enough, smart enough, equipped enough. Our voice is primed to tell us we can’t; we can’t win, we can’t move forward, we can’t succeeed. Our voice is primed to gain fury when we find ourselves unsure or uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Our voice is conditioned to derail our joy when we are most vulnerable, the time when we are most susceptible to it and its lies.
It is so human to second guess ourselves, to wonder if we’re doing it right or if we were the only ones who didn’t receive the manual on how to do this thing everybody else seems to know how to do. It is so assumed that we place ourselves underneath another we look up to, or short ourselves the opportunity to stand in our own light and own that space. It is so justified and seemingly normal to slight ourselves when somebody else wins, instead of celebrating both of us.
Just because you win, doesn’t mean that I lose. Just because somebody else is shredded, doesn’t mean that I am fat. Just because somebody else is clockin’ their time away, doesn’t mean that I am slow and an untalented athlete. Just because somebody else is closing deals, doesn’t mean that I’m not doing a great job too.
I forget that there is room for all of us. There is room for all of your beauty and mine. There is room for your body and mine. There is room for your success, your needs, your triumphs – and mine. You have your process and I have my own. No one’s journey negates anyone else’s – that’s not how the Universe as I’ve come to know it works, or at least not how I choose to believe it does. There is room for all of us and there is space to share.
Trust in the process (saying to myself). Remember you haven’t gotten this far to get dropped and forgotten about and ignored. My God doesn’t want that for me. My biggest desires are mine for the taking, if I do the work.
And so are yours. With or without me reaching mine.