Who Compares

With the Olympics in Beijing now in the rearview mirror, I recently made an interesting discovery... the world doesn't revolve around me. seriously, it doesn't. I know you might not believe it, but I'm NOT the center of your universe.

I've spent the majority of my life trying to be the best. The tricky thing about being the best is that it means that you are "better" than everyone else. To be "better" than others, one must compare himself to those he interacts with. I'm smarter than her... BETTER looking than him... BETTER job than him... BETTER athlete than her... COOLER than him... MORE friends than her... etc. I even nailed down the details if I couldn't find something or I didn't know someone well enough-- I dress BETTER than him, have a BETTER wife than him... MORE cultured than her... BETTER diet than him... and on and on it goes. In my quest for being the best, I became a slave to comparison! It's pretty sad that I didn't realize this until today, but this is the first time that it really hit me -- if I spend my life comparing myself to other people, two things will happen: I will never be enough, and I will never become what I am supposed to be. This idea still needs some work in my brain, but I feel like it's kind of revolutionary for me.

A few years ago I would have considered myself as a contender for a slot on the Olympic fencing Team for the olympic games that just ended. Much of my motivation at the time revolved around being the best. In sports, we are often driven to be "better" as a result of competition (which I love); but I don't think that the same competitive spirit can be applied to the game of life. In life, there doesn't have to be one that wins and one that loses. Everyone can win! Maybe life isn't a game after all. In the board game called "LIFE," the person with the most 'stuff' at the end of the game wins... I think that we often apply that board game to our lives, thinking that it works the same way. It is true that if you get a good job, invest money wisely, and get lucky a few times, you will be financially successful, but does that mean you win at life?

Maybe you think that HAPPINESS is the ultimate goal... so you start a career, get married, start a family, pop out a couple kids, get a dog, and then you sit back and wait for ultimate bliss and utopia to descend from heaven and consume your life; but you're disappointed. SOME fulfillment, but not enough... SOME joy, but not enough... SOME peace, but not enough. when you compare yourself like I often do, it's NEVER ENOUGH!

The only way to truly WIN at life is to be what God called YOU to be! And thankfully we are not called to do the same thing, so there's no need to try to beat your buddy to the treasure that is God's calling. He's calling YOU to do his will for YOUR life... now we just have to learn to listen.