Never Compare Yourself

In 1997, I returned to Liberia from Ghana with three point five children (I was pregnant again), broke, dejected and suicidal. Yes, I wanted to end it all. I felt I had messed up my life beyond repair, but along the way, God sent me angels in human form who encouraged me that I had a lot more to live for.

One of my friends’ gave me the poem “Desiderata” as a gift and a means of encouraging me on life’s journey.

As I read the poem, I was struck with the reality of the words written in there.

One part that has stuck with me all these years later is “…if you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”

At that time in my life, that piece of the poem described exactly who I was becoming. I was at a place of great pain and anger, always thinking about my friends’ progress and how I was a single mother of four, with no hopeful outlook for the future.

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There were days I was ashamed to step out of my house, thinking about what my friends would say about my appearance.

I was always comparing myself like the poem said and getting bitter over my station in life.

But those words, when I read them repeatedly, helped me. Especially the part that reminded me that, “…there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” I go back to this poem regularly to remind myself of its words.

Let me encourage you today, as you navigate the stress and hassles of this life, never compare yourself with others.

Remember, there will always be people greater than yourself. And that God has an appointed time and season for all.

Happy Monday!!!