5 Things that happen to you when you Compare Yourself

The thief of Joy. Moving past the obvious connection to my name, one of the greatest thieves I have noticed of my Joy is when I compare myself to others. Everyone's path in life is different and it's important to remember that not everyone has to go at the same pace to be in the right place. This is a little bit of a #reallife #cometojesusmoment but it's important to work though all the thoughts, and if you feel this way too. It's important to remember what's actually going on. 
1. You start to think your thoughts are not valid. Once you start comparing your ideas to others who may be, either more outspoken than you, or that have different types of ideas, it's easy to fall into the mindset that there ideas are probably going to be better anyway, so why try. That slope is not one to go down because here the thing, it's fact mixed with fiction. Yes, there ideas will be different but that's all they are different. It doesn't mean that your ideas are wrong. Are there times when your ideas may not be put to fruition, yes, but it doesn't mean that you should stop presenting or even just thinking about new ways to do things. 2. You compare your behind the scenes to everyone else's play reel. All those ideas that others are having may be from a difference in personality. Or maybe they have pitched 7 other ideas that were rejected before that 1 was implemented. Because we don't see the background story of others lives, it's easy to forget how much they are putting into their ideas as well.  3. You stop being creative. Once down the rabbit hole of everyone else's ideas are so much better, you end up putting your own ideas down. You stop thinking of the creative ideas and thoughts you have because your focused on others. Focus on you, you're the only person you can control.  4. You undervalue your self worth. Your ideas are just as worthy as theirs. What is the worse that can happen? You realize maybe that won't work in this situation. or what if I tried this instead. Or you hear the not as scary as you think it is word "No." That's it. Two little letters that really are only saying that this won't work. In no way is it saying that YOU are of any less worth. 5. You forget who you are in Jesus and what you were made for. It can be so easy to forget what is important and focus on the details instead of the picture. Any idea is just that, it's an idea. Remember that every failure is teaching you another way to succeed. And, hey, what if it works out! Success! You can do it, put your ideas out there!