A Life to Live

Photo via Amy Cummins

I'm not sure if it's summer time, being in my mid-twenties, social media, or a combination of all three, but lately I've felt more compelled than ever to compare myself to others.  The need to compare my achievements - both personally and professionally, my possessions, my appearance, my relationships, my family, my friends, my hobbies, and most recently, my dreams.

Is it self-induced? Probably. But for the first time in my life, I am fully responsible for paving my own path. Do I follow the nicely paved road? Do I hike up the rocky path? Or do I scrape and claw my way through the dense forest? Up until college graduation, I was given a list of options. Here are 10 classes - choose 6. Post college graduation, I suddenly had endless options. It seemed so exciting at first, and then approximately five seconds later, like the scariest thing in the entire world.

What if I want something completely different than everyone else? Or better yet.... why doesn't everyone else want what I want?  At the root of it all, I suppose I'm not comparing myself to others because I want what they have.  I'm trying to figure out why I don't.