That don’t show my breakaway speed

August 18, 2018 2:51 PM

Comparison with others are a futile game with no winners.

But then again, we’re no picnic either.

Being better than our former self sounds like a noble personal development crusade, but all that judgment gets out of control when we start evaluating ourselves according to who we used to be.

It’s like the famous commercial with the football player watching his video game avatar getting tackled from behind on screen. He complains to the game developers with clipboards:

That don’t show my breakaway speed!

To which the geeks reply:

Our numbers say you lost a step.

We all go through some version of this form of loss. Because the trap of comparison doesn’t even require other people, only our own ego. As with most pain in life, the call is coming from inside the house.

But this the great human preoccupation. Our denial of death. That’s why we’re always grasping at the way things used to be. Coming down hard on ourselves for not being as energetic and robust and creative as we were ten, five or even one year ago.

Because maybe that will cheat the reaper for another day.

But contrary to what that motivational poster on the gym wall says, there are more important things than being better than the person we were yesterday.

Like loving who we are today. And having faith that whoever we become tomorrow, assuming we actually make it to tomorrow, that person won’t be any better or worse than today. They will simply be.

What we lose in speed we gain in bravery.

And so, if we are to grasp for anything, let it be acceptance. Not giving up, but simply being honest about our situation.

Compassionately witnessing our limitations.

Otherwise, we will start measuring our current reality by our previous experiences, and we will do ourselves a great disservice.

LET ME ASK YA THIS...