I was recently slapped between the eyes by a powerful statement from Jon Acuff, author of the new book, Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job, and member of the Dave Ramsey team.
“Never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.”
Wow! I was instantly asking myself, do I compare? What? I do!
I’m not in denial to the fact that I’m still some punk kid learning the ropes of writing, speaking, blogging, etc. But I am learning that it can be hard not to compare myself to others before me doing the same things.
God has put some great women in my life from all different stages of life. I have mentors raging in ages of 40 to 60. Being around each of them teaches me so much. I was recently watching one my mentors speaking to a large group. The crowd was laughing. Her words flowed flawlessly. She barely looked at her notes. Her makeup and hair were perfect. People were eating her message up.
I found myself asking, how does she do that so well? How did she work that transition so perfectly? Will I be able to do that? I am learning that it’s okay to ask myself these questions in regards to improving the way I do things, but when I turn it into comparison, it becomes about me and not about the message Jesus is preparing me to share. Over lunch one day she reminded me that she too was in my place. “That was thirty years ago.”
Oh yes! Experience Sundi Jo. Experience. Experience. Practice. Failure. Mistakes. Experience. Okay, I think I’m getting it. My beginning can’t be compared to her middle. We’re both different. We all have to start somewhere, and that start is at the beginning.
What are your struggles in comparing to others?