Things Take Off At Different Times For Us All.

Tweet

Pin It

The idea of people comparing themselves to other people is something that has existed since maybe the beginning of time. There is no way for me to truly know how long this has been a normal practice, but what I do know is that it is something that has existed since I've been living in this world. I'm certain that there are a slew of reasons why so many of us as people compare ourselves to others. Probably one of the biggest reasons that I can think of off the top of my head comes from the social constructs that have been established in this world. For example, there is are beliefs that exist within our world that a person needs to be married by a certain age, have children by a certain age, and retire by a certain age. These are just a couple of examples out of many that stem from the social constructs that so many people follow. Now I'm in no way saying that everyone believes this, but these social norms that have been placed upon us say that you need to have done various things by a specific time period, and in the event that you have not achieved some of these things by that specific time period, then something must be wrong with you. As I have gotten older and gained a greater understanding of this world and how people think, it has become increasingly difficult for me to even imagine why so many of us conform ourselves to these social norms. My reasoning for this is due to the idea that most of us realize by now that we're all unique individuals that have different upbringings and outlooks on life. If this is the case, why exactly do so many of us allow these social norms to dictate how we live our lives? Though it may be difficult to not compare ourselves to other people, the comparing of yourself to anyone in general is never a wise thing once you reach a certain age. We have to realize that everyone faces different obstacles in life, so naturally things will take off for us at different times.

Hey, what is going on peeps? This is your main man Brad H. back once again to bring you all another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! How is everyone doing out there? We are still anew in the year 2019, so I hope that those resolutions that those of you that still do make them are going well. So for my soapbox section of this week, I'm going to briefly discuss more football. We all know by now that my Dallas Cowboys took an L to the Los Angeles Rams last week. I was also wrong about the Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts game that I brought up two week ago in the last post. We got the AFC and NFC championship games taking place tomorrow, so I'm going to quickly give my prediction on what I see happening. So we have the New England Patriots taking on the Kansas City Chiefs, and the New Orleans Saints going up against the Los Angeles Rams. Out of these two games, the only one that I feel fairly confident about is the Chiefs and Patriots. I'll be rooting for the Chiefs cause I don't like the Patriots, but I believe that New England is going to win. They already played during the regular season in what was an awesome game that the Patriots nudged out in a 43-40 victory. I just feel like their experience will propel them into another Super Bowl appearance. As for the Saints and Rams, I really don't know who is going to win this game. They also played one another in the regular season, and the Saints were victorious at that time. The Rams have such an advanced offense in my opinion, so it is going to take a big defensive effort by anyone to beat them. Their offense totally had my Cowboys defense gassed out. I don't care for either of these teams, so it doesn't matter to me who wins. If I had a gun to my head however, I would probably pick the Saints to win. We will see what happens tomorrow, but it should be exciting to watch. Man it is so hard to believe that football season is almost over with. Seems like it goes by faster and faster each year. With all that being said, lets go ahead and get into this week's discussion of things taking off at different times for us all.

Now I've already brought up the idea of people comparing themselves to other people, and how the society that we live in has established these social constructs that the majority of people follow when it comes to living their lives. There is another word that is a key element when it comes to comparing ourselves to others. That word is "patience". I personally believe that patience or the lack thereof is one of the main reasons why people feel the need to compare themselves to others. I'm going to touch more on patience later on in this topic. Now I'm not going to be a hypocrite and act as if I don't ever compare myself to other people. I believe that it is totally unrealistic for anyone to say that they've never compared themselves to another person. That being said, there are different contexts that comparing ourselves to others can be put into. Simply put, I believe that a person can compare themselves to other in either a constructive way, or a nonconstructive way. Now these two comparisons within themselves can be totally subjective when it comes to what is considered constructive and nonconstructive. As I see it, constructive comparison is when a person compares themselves to another person in a manner in which it inspires the person doing the comparing to strive to be better. As an example, think of people in your life that you admire and look up to. These are people that may have a skill or personality trait that you admire. The manner in which they live their lives may be inspiration for you to want better for your own life. Athletes compare themselves to other athletes in their particular sports all the time. I believe many of them use this form comparison as a way to work harder to reach the top of their sport. Again, constructive criticism isn't only limited to sports. Like I mentioned earlier, it can be related to anything or anyone that inspires you in a positive manner.

Now onto what I deem as the downside of comparing ourselves to others, and the heart of what I want to get across in this week's topic. From my perspective, comparing ourselves to other in a nonconstructive way is what I brought up earlier in regards to the social constructs of life. I believe it is both nonconstructive and unwise to compare your life situation to others when it comes to meeting the expectations of society. Let me paint a picture for you all of what I'm referring to when I say this. Think of two people that are friends and have been friends for a long time. Lets say that one of these people is in a relationship and decides to get married. Now the other friend that isn't yet married could very well be supportive and happy for their friend. However, the society that we live in probably would beg the question to the unmarried friend; now when are you going to get married? If this person begins to hear this enough, they may begin to question and wonder when they're time to get married is coming. Furthermore, if they're not strong enough to ignore these type of questions, they may easily find themselves comparing themselves to their married friend, which could ultimately lead to jealousy and resentment. Keep in mind that this is just an example that I'm setting up, so hopefully you all don't think that I'm saying everyone thinks this way. The point of this example is to establish what I believe is a form of nonconstructive comparison. From my perspective, this is the type of comparison towards others that we need to try and cut out of our lives. I'm going to give my opinion on why next.

Now remember when I brought up the word patience earlier, and how so many of us lack having it? In my opinion, the lack of patience and comparing ourselves to others go hand in hand. For those of us that struggle in the arena of comparing our lives to that of others, we have to exercise some patience and understand that things takes off for us at different times. It's not meant for all of us to accomplish things at the same time, otherwise there would be no need for the individual struggles that we have to endure. We have to learn how to view our lives as if we're skydiving. I've never went skydiving before, but I do know that unless some type of malfunction happens during the jump, the parachute will open up. Everybody's parachutes don't always open at the same time, which means that none of us will always accomplish our goals at the same time. Always try and be happy for others when you see their parachutes opening, and know that as long as you are moving towards better things in your life, your chute will open up eventually. We have to have patience though when it comes to these kinds of things. I understand that the world we live in today doesn't push the idea of having patience. It shows in how so many people today want everything so fast. That's another topic for another day. So in closing, lets try and exercise more patience. Have the belief that things will work out for us in due time. Be happy for others when good things happen for them. Finally, if you have the opportunity to be a positive part of someone else's journey, do no hesitate to do so. I believe that playing a role in helping others gives us a kind of satisfaction that not much else in this world could. Whenever you may feel as if things aren't going your way in this life, and the opposite is happening for others, remember that things take off at different times for us all.

Well that is all that I got for you good people this go round. Like I always mention before signing off, I'd like to thank all of you that once again stopped by for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I hope that there was some meaning and understanding that was able to be taken away from this. Also, if this post inspired you, or if you gained anything valuable from it, please let me know down below in the comment section. You can also connect with me on Twitter @BradrickH if you'd like. I hope you all have an enjoyable rest of your weekend. I know there is a lot of cold weather and snow out there, so be safe in whatever you're doing this weekend. I'll see you all in the next topic, so until then, take care everyone!

©2019 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.