We have been trained for generations to compete with each other. Who is prettiest, richest, strongest, smartest etc.. We have been taught from the first day of school to show off your best qualities and to use them to gain advantage over others.
So many of us have realized that we could not compete. Perhaps we outgrew the game of competition. Perhaps we subconsciously remember the lifetimes upon lifetimes of uselessly dying in battle for an ignoble cause that means nothing once you are fatally wounded.
We may have stopped trying to be the prettiest, richest, strongest, or smartest. But we were still conditioned to compete. So if we weren’t going to be the best at being the best. We could be the best at being the worst. We could share the saddest parts of our lives and use them as some kind of badge of honor.
Perhaps being the best at the worst has become fashionable. There are so many stories of heartache, neglect, trauma or abandonment that its hard to stand out for your sad story. What has happened is that instead of writing about issues as mere therapy, it has been used for entertainment value. Sharing a tragedy is used by so many to validate their existence. Even I am guilty of this.
If someone doesn’t have a sad enough story, they will rescue a pet and tell their pet’s sad story over and over again. In doing so, they will keep the pet trapped in the trauma by pulling the trauma along into the sacred moment. as if the story of the pet was on a leash.
One can watch a happy grateful fur-guy wilt as his new parent keeps reminding everyone what a horrific experience he had and how wonderful they are for rescuing him. Our stories have become fashion.
How about a person who has lived a long memorable life of courage and giving, but Because of health issues, they have a stint in the hospital? If they are at the hospital, they are at the pinnacle of their worst moments. This is when well intending loved ones snap a picture of them and share it on social media. This person’s whole life of experiences is deduces to them being remembered in a hospital gown, with tubes extending out of their body. Doing this has become trendy as well. But it doesn’t serve to empower anyone. This practice actually lowers the bar on the collective.
We as humans are in a position to look at the behavior of individuals through watching social media and deciding to do better. We can watch and observe the negative trends, and lead others around us out of the negative place. Here is a challenge for everyone.
It is simply to share the best of ourselves in a non competitive way. Many of us have started to do this with lovely pictures of our home, family, pets, nature and the hobbies we cherish. Those who are my friends and share in this way, help round out my experiences as a human being without me needing to jump through hoops to partake. On holidays, I will get the warm fuzzy feeling of seeing all my friends gathered with their loved one’s and appreciate the gift of being included through pictures. Its enough.
I try to do the same for others with my insights and the propensity to articulate them. This may be what makes me unique as a human. My intention is to uplift all of humanity with my insights. By sending them out into social media, perhaps they uplift all of the collective. By doing so, it has caused me to think differently.
Now when I see a beautiful model, I no longer have to be jealous and want to be like her. She is living her purpose in being beautiful. We are not sharing the drudgery of always being scrutinized, and judged. Or having to keep up impossible standards. We just get to enjoy the beauty and then get back to what makes us special.
It is kind of what we do when we hear a beautiful singer. We receive the song and are grateful for it. There is a lot that goes into honing a skill and maintaining a balance at the same time. If we can fill in the gaps for others by sharing them glimpses into our lives without making them feel any kind of lack, that is a win-win scenario.
What if we could adopt this attitude with everyone? What if we could be grateful of everyone who gives service in their fields of expertise without the need of jealousy or competition? What if we gave our gifts to the world without needing to be the most perfect, but in sharing our joy in what we get to experience through our eyes and our skin.
It is a way of changing the paradigm from using what makes us special to take from others to expanding and uplifting others with what we do. In higher consciousness, everyone must adopt the practice of using their gifts to enhance others rather than trying to steal their shine is some way.
If we could all shift from competing on superficial standards, to sharing the best of our heart, we could shift the whole paradigm of living. What if the only way we competed was in how much of ourselves we could give to help others? What if we could maintain our integrity, sincerity and depth while giving as much of ourselves as possible? Isn’t this what the great avatars of the world did like; Mother Therese, Martin Luther King Jr, and Gandhi?
It may have once been about being extraordinarily the best. But the new paradigm is about uniquely using your gifts. And having a greater capacity to serve humanity through the heart.
Beautifully said! As always thank you!
Wonderful expression on how we can shift to enjoying our own gifts and those all around us.
Thank you Jen, a wonderful reminder that “Comparison is the thief of joy!”
Putting this into words is giving it perspective. You are giving us the opportunity to live better lives and to do what was intended for us to do in this lifetime.
Thank you for sharing what it means to shift ourselves energetically. Your clear and concise language makes it easy for everyone to access. Thank you for all the work that you have done and continue to do to uplift humanity. Your outpouring of love has made all the difference in my life and in the lives of many!
Thanks for reminding people that they are not their sad stories of the past and that everyone can be their own best self, Jen!
Every time I read your words or hear and see you online, my heart wants to burst. I am so grateful for all that you have and continue to teach me. This lesson is especially helpful to me to change the way I react to others’ displays on social media. You are helping me to be the best person I can be and that is all I want in this life. Thank you so much for all you do, my amazingly beautiful friend.
Thank you for sharing! I appreciate the teaching of shifting our perspective to help and uplift others.
Your words pierce through me, straight to my heart!! I love you and your lovely husband (And the three puppies of course 🙂
Your words pierce through me, straight to my heart!! I love you andy your lovely husband (And the three puppies of course