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If you prefer listening over reading, click below for the audio recording of this post:

Don’t let it become the COMPARISON game!

So, Hubby and I like to relax with games sometimes, and a couple of days ago, we decided to play a friendly game of LIFE—except it turned out not to be too friendly at all. When Hubs let me pick the game, I realized that I picked LIFE only because I was competitively determined to win. Now, most people would know this did not bode well.

You see, Hubs had won almost every game of LIFE this year, and I just couldn’t believe that he could keep on with his winning streak. Eeevery time we played, he would strike some kind of oil and blow me out of the water. Mr. Hubs would draw a card that gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars just from selling shoes or get three promotions in a row and the rest was history. I was often left in the dust with inevitably less LIFE points than he had—thus losing the game.

You see, the makers of LIFE measure the quality of your days by life points, and apparently, quality of life comes from your experiences—such as travel, learning, having a family, owning a car, experiences like that. However, they also seemed to believe that having more money increases your quality of life.

Still, I thought Hubs couldn’t simply keep winning. I just knew this was going to be the day for me to win–at least ONCE! Talk about setup for disappointment!!

Now, we started out normally enough—both drawing jobs that required several degrees. At first, we were both very disappointed with this (LOL) and debated on just drawing new jobs, but Hubs suggested we play and see what happened. He had drawn a media job, and I had drawn a card that might ultimately allow me to become a supreme court justice. Can you say Amy Coney Barrett??

So, we pressed on. I thought I was doing well, until I realized I might have forgotten to add on the 3,000 LIFE points when I earned my Ph.D.; yet, I didn’t have any way of knowing whether I had forgotten or not! Oh, I was so frustrated!!! And THEN, the big blow came: Hubs—as in every other game this year—drew a special card: he received a grand $900,000 in one big lump sum from inventing the cure for baldness (BALDNESS of all things!). I was so discouraged as I looked only at his success and what I perceived as my bad luck streak. It was a flashback of every other LIFE game we’d played in 2020 thus far: total annihilation of me by Hubs. (Don’t worry, I beat him in Disney Scene-It the same way! *wink-wink*)

I scrambled to earn more degrees so I could get more promotions and make more money. Every time Hubs drew some special card and got free money, I looked at him with green eyes and lamented my own lackluster luck.

Finally, the 20 turns–what we had estimated represented a lifetime—were over, and I was sick with disgust at my perceived loss—especially after being so bent on winning this time. I thought I had tried so hard, and yet, I’d still come out on bottom!!

Lo and behold, what do you think the results showed? I “won” the game by A WHOPPING TWENTY THOUSAND life points. Count ’em: T-W-E-N-T-Y THOUSAND!! This was more of a margin than any other game Hubs had won this year! What a WIN!!

Ironically, I didn’t enjoy a single moment of this win because I spent the whooole time watching what I thought was Hubs’ success and my misfortune. By the end of the game, I was so sure I’d lost to him that discovering I had actually accumulated more LIFE points didn’t help me at all. Those “small” successes and experiences throughout the game that added up to the winning amount of LIFE points went unnoticed because my eyes were on Hubs and what he was getting. I went the extra miles around the board and got the 2 more degrees I needed, but time ran out before I ever made success and became supreme court justice. Yet, I had still won the game—goes to show you can live a full and wonderful life even without the degrees, prestige, and success!

Still, I never realized any of this until it was too late. Much to my chagrin, the game was over, and my envy and comparison had sucked the joy out of the experience. I noted with some consolation, though, that God showed me a lifetime lesson within an hour of time. At least I had not wasted a whole life learning it (although I have to admit that I HAVE struggled with this sort of thing in my real life plenty already)! Just one hour of my life was worth this experience if I could just take heed of what it taught me. I had allowed comparison to blind me to my own blessings.

Let’s not let envy and comparison steal the joy out of our real lives! Instead, let us find the freedom to enjoy each of our journeys by focusing on the moments of our own lives and being thankful for the unique blessings that God gives us! This way, we might enjoy the ride much more!

Lord, help me to refocus my eyes off of joy-stealing comparisons and see the blessings you have specifically given to me, so I can enjoy my journey with you!

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Please click below for the audio version of this site description.

  In this age of crises all around---from pandemics to riots to natural disasters---it's easy to get overwhelmed by negativity. Join me in my quest for an uncircumstantial joy and liberation by sharing reflections, humor, poetry, practical strategies, and validation.  Let's find that we are not alone, encourage one another to take heart, and be set free from fears and worries! The heart of this blog is to lift our eyes off of the darkness to place our focus on the Lord---thus finding hope & freedom in the midst of crisis.

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