Lately, I have been noticing a rapid increase in this toxic thing called comparison. Quarantine has really been a time of self reflection and I think young girls have been experiencing a lot of self doubt and self esteem issues. Not to say that this wasn’t a problem before, however now that we are all stuck in our houses with no where to go, we have a lot more time to overthink and dwell. Some of it can be motivation to be active or do a workout for that summer beach body. On the other hand, seeing all of these women that society perceives as “perfection” can have a negative impact on us rather than a positive. I wanted to write this post for other people who struggle with comparison, including myself. In all honestly, I believed I was a relatively confident person, but with the constant scrolling through Instagram, Tik Tok, and other socials, it’s become apparent that even the most confident person can feel the effects of comparison.

The first thing we have to think about the people that society projects as “perfect” and how they must feel. When they upload a video or post a picture, they are feeling pretty in their own way. When they scroll through the comments and see things like “guess I won’t eat today”, it must hurt. There are always two sides to these types of things, even though we write the comments, there are always other people reading them, including the people you direct them towards. I think we always just assume these people can brush comments like that off their shoulder without batting an eye. These people like Madison Beer or Zendaya may be celebrities in our perspective, but even with the millions of followers they have, they are still humans like us.

So, the question remains, how do we deal with this constant comparison society shoves in our faces? Obviously it’s not something you can flip a switch and everything will change. We are told that all bodies are different and we should embrace that, but also you shouldn’t be at a certain weight or that makes you too fat or too skinny. Too much makeup is trying too hard but not enough is not trying at all. The bottom line is society will get in our head with all of these standards that won’t always be attainable, and that is OKAY. Everyday, you have get up and do things that make YOU happy, not things that makes society happy. Eat what you want! If you like striving for a healthy diet, do it! If you want to have a cheat day or eat some of those cookies that put you in a good mood. DO IT. If you feel better after running a few miles or doing an ab workout, do it. If you hate running and want to de-stress by doing some yoga, do that! The key to getting rid of comparison, is feeling happy in your own body. Trust me, I know it is easier said than done, but that is the goal. Feel happy in your own skin. One thing for sure is you cannot be convinced this will be a short term goal. Being happy in your own body is a personalized journey, something that can only happen on your terms. No one else can have any influence on this process. Don’t get caught up in all the negativity of the internet because once you do, you are letting the internet control you. Even though many of our favorite social media apps are being flooded with toxic comments, there are many motivational and self love promoting creators that use their platforms to motivate us to be the best version of ourselves. Find those people and stick with that, don’t keep burying yourself with the bad, surround yourself with the good.

This all may sound cheesy, but comparison drives some of us to start unhealthy habits and not feel as happy as we used to. Now that we have been quarantined for so long and away from many of the things that made us happy and kept us away from all the negativity, it is much harder to stop comparing.

I was reading a comparison based bible plan on the Bible app the other day and this devotional really hit hard for me. No matter if you are a religious person or not, those last few words can mean a lot. You weren’t created to be a copy. You are ORIGINAL. Let those words sink in and start believing you are important, you are beautiful inside and out, and you were created to stand out.

xoxo, megs