A young man wrote into the New Era:
“My friends say I have an inferiority complex, but as far as I can tell, I’m just inferior. Everyone else is smarter, better looking and more talented than I am. I just am inferior.”
I know just how he feels. I am a middle child in a large family, and all my siblings are smarter, more capable, and more sure of themselves than I am. It’s just a fact: I am inferior.
I learned a long time ago you don’t have to look far or long in any aspect of life to find someone who is better than you are. Conversely, you don’t have to look far or long to find those who aren’t doing as well as you are.
It’s a game we humans play—ever comparing ourselves to others. I call this game Comparisonopoly. Instead of amassing properties and hotels, we amass evidence that we’re not as good as everyone else.
It’s not a fair game because we usually compare our worst with someone else’s best.
Like Phase 10, it’s a game that is always frustrating and makes you want to cry.
It is a game that nobody wins.
This is not a game Heavenly Father had in mind for our peace, our happiness, or our progress in this life.
Someone defined self-worth as
“When we know who we are
without having to show what we know, what we have, and what we can do.”
We may feel inferior, but do you think our Maker thinks for one second that we are?
"Now this is the truth. We humble people, we who feel ourselves sometimes so worthless, so good-for-nothing, we are not so worthless as we think. There is not one of us but what God's love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that he has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that he has not desired to save and that He has not devised means to save. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are children of God and that he has actually given his angels charge concerning us." --George Q. Cannon
Sounds to me like every one of us is pretty special.
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5 comments:
At my high school graduation commencement the speaker said, "All unhappiness comes from comparison." That has stuck with me all these years because it's so true. I can comfort myself with this thought when I let myself get carried away with comparisons that make me feel badly. Somehow the comparisons to those less fortunate don't help me feel better. Often when I can make myself stop and think about things and eliminate the comparisons then I feel fine. It's interesting.
Thanks for the reminder. I feel like you do, that all my siblings are smarter, more capable, and just plain better than I. That's why family gatherings can be so difficult for me. But outside of my family I have worked very hard to not compare myself to others. It's just not fair to compare my worst with someone else's best. Nobody could hold up to that. But for the record, of your siblings, you are by far the one I would choose both as a mother and as a friend. Hands down.
I would choose you too! :)
Thanks for posting this! I usually feel that I am inferior too, especially among my family members. It's good to remember that Heavenly Father certainly wouldn't want any of us to feel that way.
I have this issue where everyone who loves me (i.e. you mom, Micah, and Jenn) tells me how wonderful I am, the great potential that I have, and all the wonderful things I'll accomplish. Let's be honest... I DON'T SEE IT! I guess your post is comforting in that although I may not see my future potential I have a Father in Heaven who is fully aware and is preparing me in the way that he sees fit. Golly, mortal life is an interesting time...
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