Playing the comparison game...

We all do it. We see a friend's gorgeous, artistic, wedding pictures and suddenly ours don't look as nice to us. We check out a friend's snazzy new blog, and suddenly feel rather self conscious about how basic ours is. We see a gorgeous painting a friend created and suddenly feel quite talentless. It goes on. This my friends, is the comparison game, and few who play it ever win. (And those that do "win" it consequently have a whole other problem with pride, but that's another post for another day.) It can leave us feeling self conscious, discouraged, or downright boring sometimes. So what's a gal (or guy) to do?
Well, there are a few options here.
Option 1: We can continue surfing the internet for hours looking at all the people, and blogs and art work out there that's better than ours, and feel down about it. We can think of everyone and everything more talented and lovely than us and feel fantastically crummy. And we can be a sad, dreary lump feeling bad about your bland, talentless selves.
Option 2: We can just pick those blogs and people and artwork apart so we feel better about ourselves. Find all the flaws, or make some up if we have to! Find a way to knock it down a peg or two so we don't feel quite so bad.
Hmmmm.....So far I'm not liking either of those options and I don't think God does either. How about....
Option 3: What if we roll up our sleeves and do something about it. We could step back and analyze our hearts. We could pray, and ask God to take away our self-pitying attitude if it's there. (Which is often a huge part of the problem! I am not saying 100% of the time this is the problem, but if you look deep enough how many times have you found yourself feeling sorry for yourself that in your eyes, you aren't more talented and/or downright fabulous? *raises hand* Guilty!) We could ask God to give us a true and sincere, unselfish appreciation for the wonderful, beautiful, things around us - including those pictures and blogs and artwork making us feel self conscious about ourselves! God is the maker and creator of all things glorious and beautiful. We are made in His image. Is it any wonder then, that His image bearers, as flawed as they are, are coming up with some awesome stuff? Step back, take a deep breath and just enjoy the fruits of others labors! How many hours did that person have to spend creating, and updating their blog? How much time and effort and paint went into the masterpiece on the wall? How much hours were spent learning and practicing so you could listen to flawless piano music? These things are gifts being freely bestowed on you! Go ahead! Rip off the wrapping paper like a 5 year old, sugar-buzzed little kid on their birthday, and enjoy! Don't let your joy be stolen away by turning it back on yourself and playing the comparison game. Remind yourself that God made us all different with different talents and gifts. I know, I know, easier said than done! I personally find I am having to constantly remind myself of this. In fact, I am amazed how often I have to stop myself from playing the comparison game. And it's not always easy. Some days it's just really hard. You find yourself saying "Well what have I got? What do I do that's so special?" Well, there's two things you can do.
First - find people who know you and love you, who will give you a straight answer and ask them. Ask them to be totally honest and tell you what they think your gifts are. What do you do that is a blessing to others? You will be quite surprised at what people tell you. Too often we are gifted in ways we don't realize. It's not until someone who sees us in a different way or perspective points it out, that we finally see it too! As long as you don't use this knowledge to "one up" others and feel better about yourself because you're now "better" than someone else - this can be a healthy, constructive thing! Try it!
Second - set about to grow in your current talent, or to learn something new! Now, I am NOT advocating desperately trying to "be as good as" everyone else out there. No. No. No. You will drive yourself (and those around you!) crazy and will feel crummy. No. What I am saying is, do you love that new, snazzy, blog of your friend's? Do you wish yours looked a little nicer? Well why not set about learning how to jazz yours up a bit for fun? Does a fellow blogger Mommy knock your socks off with all her home-made, hand sewn things? And maybe you've always thought it might be fun to sew? Well take some lessons then my friend! Does your sister's painting make you stop and stare in appreciation? Ask her to teach you! Again - the key here is not striving to be as good or better than these people. No. The key is turn your heart towards God and hone your current talents, or to try something new and creative to glorify Him! He delights to see His people creating and doing beautiful things. It testifies to His greatness and beauty when His image bearers make lovely things. So be an image bearer, and enjoy! Try something new, or pick up something you left off with. Remind yourself that God loves a cheerful heart much more than a catchy, stylish blog, or a gorgeous painting. (I'm not saying He doesn't like those things too, I'm just saying one is more important than the other!) If you have children old enough - learn something new together with them! Perhaps this could be a great opportunity to spend more time with your Mom or Grandma, learning something they learned from their Mom or Grandma. Call up a friend and see if they'd like to try something new with you and learn together. That way when the picture perfect cake you were trying to make just collapses in a hopeless heap of frosting and fluff, you have a friend there to take pictures and dissolve into fits of laughter with. When that painting ends up unintentionally looking like a kindergartner's version of a Picasso or a Van Gogh gone horribly wrong, you've got your sister to laugh along with you, (and yes, quite possibly tease you.) When you accidentally sew your finger into that cute little dress for your daughter, your Mom is there to administer first aid! (And keep you grounded in reality.) You could potentially be making some hilarious, priceless memories with your Grandma, your Mom, your friend, whoever! Memories that will last a life time.
So don't waste any more time playing the comparison game. Pray about it, get your heart right first. Ask God for wisdom and help. (And forgiveness for any bad attitudes!) And then call up your Mom, your sisters, your gal-pal, your Grandma, Aunt, or cousin and ask them. "How do you feel about pottery?", "Do you know how to knit?", "How badly would we hurt ourselves if we tried candle making?" And you might be surprised at how much fun you have along the way.

To God be the glory! Now go make something fabulous. Just don't hurt yourself in the process.