Don't compare yourself to others.....Just try to be better today than you were yesterday!

ve mentioned several times before that I really enjoy my job because every day I not only get to help people sort out their issues, but I also have many opportunities to rejoice with them when they experience a small victory or success.  Yesterday was an incredibly busy day at work, but I was uplifted in the afternoon when a student walked into my office with a big smile on his face. This particular student had previously failed a math class and was repeating it this semester. He had a test yesterday and put a lot of effort into studying and preparing for the test.  When the test was over, he came into my office beaming and said, “Look at this, Theresa….look at this!”  I couldn’t help but smile at his excitement and thought he must have earned an A.

I took the test from him and looked at the top. He scored a 64% on the test….which is a failing or very near failing grade, and yet he was so excited and happy. I sorted of wrinkled my brow, shook my head, and looked at him questioningly, as I said….”Why are you so happy, you failed the test?”  His response sort of blew me away and taught me a very valuable lesson.  He said, “Yes, Theresa, I know……but the last time I took the test I only scored a 28%!”   WOW!  This high-risk, non-traditional student just taught me more in that one sentence than I could ever teach him!  He was not one bit concerned about anything but doing better than he did the last time…..being better today than he was yesterday.  WOW!

We could learn much from that attitude. How often do we get down on ourselves….feel depressed and want to give up when we see others losing more weight than us week after week…..when someone loses it faster….when the person next to us at the gym can lift heavier weights, go faster or longer on the treadmill…..when our sister or friend wears a smaller size than us……when someone gets a raise or makes more money than us…..when others have a bigger house or a nicer car or smarter kids or……….you can fill in the blanks. 

None of this matters. Who cares how long it takes you to reach goal?  Who cares that you can only walk ½ mile today or do 3 sit ups?  Who cares that you are losing only ½ or 1 pound a week and someone else consistently loses 2 or 3?  Who cares????  What is so important to focus on  is that we continue to strive to make progress…..at that each day or week we are better than we were the day before. Keep moving forward…..keep plugging away….keep on keepin’ on!  You can do it!!!­