"Comparison is the Thief of Joy"

[12.22.2018] 

You’ve probably read or heard the phrase, “comparison is the thief of joy.”

 It’s a phrase that is all over social media. 

I’ve always thought of it as it pertains to comparing your home decor to someone else’s, or your clothes to someone else’s...and not as much about comparing your life to someone else’s. 

But my sister told a story about my Dad the other day: he’s been in rehab since he fell in his home on Thanksgiving Day; how confused he is, how stubborn and grumpy he sometimes acts now...which is completely and totally not his character at all. 

And she told his caretakers and therapists how he is, and has always been, the kindest, most gentle person we’ve ever known. 

She says they act like they believe her. 

She said they are all touched by his love for Clara...and hers for him. And by the way his face lights up when he sees her. 

They say they want what my Dad and Clara have. 

I think it’s interesting that people see the two of them, and want what they have...but they have no idea of the heartbreak and loss that brought them to each other. 

We see a slice of a person’s life, and we assume that what we see has always been: that there has always been joy, love, and hope. 

Or that there’s always been criticism, frustration, and sadness. 

And then we compare what we have to what we *see* in others...and sometimes we wish for that life...when we have no idea what it has taken for them to get to that place. 

Such a great reminder to me that everyone has a story...and it might not be the one we make up in our heads.

"...'Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?' Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said." Job 2:10