Comparison is the Enemy of Change

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Author: The Resource Girls

“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.”

-Robin Sharm

For years, Cat was always singing yoga’s praises and pushing me to try it. I knew I missing something when she’d call me after a class sounding so inspired, or when I saw her toned body and think, "how do I get that?" I then tackled my first class with her and watched as she conquered moves my body could barely reach.

I think sometimes the hardest part of change, or the start of a new goal, is seeing someone who has already reached the goal you want to attain. This can easily be discouraging. I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive to inspire people. We should all be on a path to inspire others to be their best, because this is how people are influenced to change. For the person who is just starting out though, like I was two years ago with yoga, sometimes seeing what you want to be, or look like, in someone else can make change even harder.

I’m here to say, don’t allow yourself to compare your middle with someone else’s end.

We live in a time when almost everything we want is at our fingertips. With social media, apps, cell phones, and computers, we can pretty have just about anything we want pretty quickly. This can make it difficult to remember that sometimes things only come with some real, sweaty, time consuming, hard work!

So, whether you’re just starting yoga out for the first time, or getting back into a class after a few months away, don’t compare yourself to the yogi next to you and wish you could hold the pose as long as they can, or stretch your body to complete the position yours can’t complete.  Instead, focus on being grateful that you stepped onto your mat, for having a body that is allowing you to work out, encouraged that the more you stick with it, the deeper you’ll be able to bend, and mindfulness that sooner or later you’ll be an even more flexible version of you! Just like the quote at the top says, the beginning of any change is always really hard, the middle is messy and trying, but the end is super powerful. Change only comes by deciding you want to be different and forcing yourself to see it through! Everyone starts somewhere. Don’t look at your idol, or person that inspires you and think you’ll never get there. Remember they had a beginning and middle too, and sooner or later you’ll get to your end!

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