Jeremy C Kester

Examples abound to validate any way one wants to feel when compared to another. There are those who I could compare myself to and feel vindication; there are those who I could compare myself to who would make me feel worthless. All that is needed is the narrative that I wish to foster. Do I wish to be the hero or the villain? Yet telling either story gives little chance of maturation, or learning, of growth. All it accomplishes is to verify the story, nothing more.

Upon the monitor of one of my computers and written upon the face of one of my many notebooks is the phrase “never compare”. It is a reminder that in doing so, all it is to serve is a narrative that fails to serve me.

What if I were to improve against the vision of myself? What if I only looked at who I was yesterday as the example of who I am today? Am I better? Worse? Indifferently positioned between the two? Is there a narrative that is being fostered in comparison to a former self or can there be more gained in doing so?

We shouldn’t compare, not to others. However, the past versions of ourselves are there to do exactly that. That is why I must learn from my mistakes. Comparing current me to past me should help to place me in the right direction. And there is no narrative I need to justify other than the pursuit of being better today than who I was yesterday.