“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

Not entirely sure who originally said that (sorry George Washington, or whoever) but its relevance has never been greater in this age of perpetual comparison via social media.

At its core, comparison is a tool we use to make decisions. As humans, we need to have options — things with varying scale, depth, price, weight, color, features, and so on — in order to feel informed enough to choose.

This generally works pretty great for non-human areas of interest… but not so much when we start to compare humans to each other. The nuances involved in every single person’s life are simply too vast to even begin to comprehend! But, our silly comparison-brains persist, seeking to glean some kind of specific detail to find a comparison within.

We overlook mountains of uniqueness — entire forests within each person that make them wonderfully special — and hone in on a single tree that’s just a bit taller than ours… just a little bit greener, richer, or healthier. That single tree-trait derails our perception of an otherwise lovely person, and makes us focus everything back on ourselves. Comparison can easily poison our connections to each other (and our inner thoughts), leeching the joy away. Don’t let it.

Compare cars, not people.
Compare couch colors, not people.
Compare pizza brands, not people.
Compare Spotify playlists, not people.
Compare literally anything else, not people.