We're All At Different Stages In This Life (Comparing Your Situation To Others).

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I think it's a fairly normal habit for us as humans to draw much of our self worth and value from our peers. We often draw comparisons to where we may be at in various stages of life to those that we grew up around, as well as maybe the people we attended school with. It feels like the mindset for the majority of people is that you're only doing as good as your peers, and if we're not at or above that standard at the moment, then you're obviously a failure. Although it's a totally subjective thing from my personal stance, for most people, there is somewhat of an invisible bar that is used for the standard that people use to determine their self worth. Now although I feel this way about the subject, I will attest that drawing comparisons from our peers can be beneficial from a motivational standpoint. We all need inspiration to aspire for greater things occasionally, and using those that are maybe doing better than us in certain aspects of life can become a positive motivational force for us to do better. Now with all of that said, I also think that too many of us depreciate our own value at times. We put so much pressure on ourselves to live up to others, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy if we're not at the same level that our peers may be. Life has various stages that we all go through, and no one journey for one person will be exactly like someone else's. We're all at different stages in this life, so we shouldn't compare our situations to else's.

Hey, what's up ladies and gentlemen? It is me Brad H. coming right back at you like an arrow shot out of a bow with another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I want to start off by saying thanks and welcome to you all. Some of you may already know the drill, but for those of you that maybe do not, I'm here to give my perspective on the various topics that I think about in my daily life. I try to take those thoughts and put them into words that I hope to not only benefit myself, but hopefully anyone else that needs a little bit of motivation as well. I hope everything has been going pretty good for you all out there as of late. I know many of you are excited about the NFL season starting less than a week from now. Trust me when I say that I'm definitely right there with anyone that feels that way, although an injury that occurred to a key player on my favorite team has somewhat tempered my already low expectations for this upcoming season. Some of you may already know that I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, which means that the injured player that I'm obviously talking about is the quarterback, Tony Romo. I was actually watching the preseason game that he went down in, and I was thinking to myself that a lot of Cowboys fans probably stopped breathing for a sec. He was able to get back up and walk away on his, but of course we know now that he has a broken bone in his back. The ironic thing about all this is that despite me being a Cowboys fan, I already had a feeling that Romo would get injured at some point this season; I just didn't expect it during the preseason. At any rate, the rookie Dak Prescott has looked fairly good in the preseason, so we'll see what happens going forward. Of course we know the regular is different, so temper your expectations Cowboy fans. Alright, I'm rambled enough, so lets get into this week's topic of being at different stages in life.

Like I always point out in my writing, a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary. My focus here isn't to put a lot of credence into what is considered to be right or wrong, but rather to give those that read something to think about further. As I stated previously, the main goal with this entry and this blog in general is to hopefully inspire others, as well as myself through the process. Of course if there is anyone that disagrees with the things I discuss or the method in which I use to discuss them, that is totally fine. Your visit is still very much appreciated regardless if our views differ. So how did we arrive at this particular topic for this week? Well, like most of the other topics I've written about, it is something that I already think about pretty frequently. Furthermore, it's a topic that I've had several in depth discussions with people that I'm close with about, but I've yet to come on here and give my thoughts on it. Finally, due to how relevant it is to so many of us out here in this world, I think it's a topic that I need to address more deeply in a post. For far too long, we as a people have based our worth on things that really shouldn't define who we are as people. I realize that this will continue to go on, but I feel that I have to do my part in showing others why they shouldn't be comparing where they are in this life to anyone else.

Now as I stated earlier in this post, we all are in different stages throughout this life. Although many people are aware of this fact, many of us still feel the pressures to keep up with the "Jones's" as people would say. There are several examples of life where this state of mind has relevance. Some examples may include things like getting married, having children, and finding the right career. Now I'm not saying that none of those things aren't important; they most definitely are. I believe, however, that the problem stems from the fact that many of us lose sight of the fact that no two individuals circumstances will be exactly the same, which means that some people will achieve certain aspects of life quicker than others. The society that we live in has painted this image where life is similar to a race, and everyone is expected to reach the finish line at exactly the same time. Of course life doesn't work that way, nor should it be viewed in this manner. From my perspective on this topic, the biggest comparison to life and goals is like people running a marathon. You have one person that gets to the finish line first, and then other competitors finish the race behind them. Some people finish the race a little slower, and some may not finish at all. That is what makes life interesting, and also makes us all unique as individuals.

So getting back to the mental aspect of this topic, there are too many of us attach our self worth to how we view others. Much of the mental part of this deals with we as people allowing others to make us feel this way. Like I stated earlier, in a generalized society, if a person hasn't gotten married or obtained a certain level of success by a specified time period, many people will paint your life as a failure. From my perspective, there are two key elements that we must keep in mind. First, try not to live your life based on a time schedule set by society. I believe a lot of people make some of the biggest mistakes by trying to live up to society's expectations. Instead of participating in this habit, try to remove those barriers from your mind, and live at your own pace. Secondly, do no compare your situation to your friends, your classmates, or your family. Whatever path you're on in life is yours and yours alone. It's not for anyone else to understand, which means that much of what we do will already be under scrutiny from other people. People may not always like your lifestyle or your choices, but most people will always respect a person that stands firms in their convictions.

Now touching once again on the self worth aspect of this topic, and this is the portion of the post that is the most important from my perspective. No matter who you are, where you are in life or what you've done, you are a person of value. No matter what anyone else may say about this, I believe that every person in this world has some kind of value. Some may wonder where is the proof in this? The proof is that we're here and breathing, so even if you don't feel you have much to contribute to this world, you still have the opportunity to do so because you're alive. I realize and understand that we live in a superficial society that places value on people by how much they've accomplished. While we should always strive to do better for ourselves, not obtaining the same level of success as our peers doesn't make you any less valuable. You may not have all the fancy or material items in this world, but your value to this world is priceless if you're the kind of person that gives yourself to others for a cause bigger than you are. So with all of that said, just remember that we're all at different stages in this life, so try not to compare your life to other people. Just keep focusing on being the better individual you can be, and I believe that the universe will reward you in kind.

Well we've made it through another week folks, so it's time for us to part ways for now. Now don't go crying on me now. I'm just kidding of course. Anyway, thank you all to everyone that came through for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' once again! I hope that this post was of inspiration to someone out there, and even in the event that it wasn't, your visit here is always welcomed and appreciated. Feel free to drop any comments or feedback like always. I hope you all have a great weekend ahead. Football is right upon us, so enjoy. I'm out people, so until next time, I wish you all peace and positive thoughts. See you all in the next one!

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