Comparisons

How often do we judge ourselves by making comparisons?

In school we learned by comparing ourselves to classmates.  Her dress is better than mine.  He kicks the kickball farther than me.  That drawing is much better than mine.  Is it innate? Or do we learn to make comparisons?  Is it something that happens naturally because of parenting?

I like taking pictures, and I suppose some of them are better than average. I've always been comfortable behind the lens. And nature never disappoints, if you're looking.

But I get caught up in doom-scrolling social media, end up following professional photographers, and then am so disappointed in my own lack of skill that I don't take any photos.

Its like comparing ourselves to classmates.  She can have a pretty dress, but there are lots of pretty dresses .... what's with believing there's only one??  OK, a simple idiom, but what causes that kind of thinking??

I will never be a famous, adventurous wildlife photographer -- you have to leave your comfort zone for that -- and I don't. But photos don't have to be ... perfection.

I saw a post about taking photos for the sake of taking them, about noticing the subtle beauty around us all the time.  A cloud, a flower, even an ant carrying a crumb of bread. 

Maybe that's the point of maturity, the one where we finally stop comparing ourselves to others and learn to just be ourselves. I grew up with the phrase "keeping up with the Jones' ", and extremely disliked being compared to whatever was 'the thing' in that moment.

For me, the point is to learn to stop comparing, to knowing there will always be someone better at things.  

The only thing I need to be better at, is being better than I was yesterday.