Nobody is perfect, but no one wants to admit this. Often in college, it can feel like every day is a competition with everyone else. People will say things to put you down to make themselves feel better. They will pretend to be perfect, even though no one is. Or you will look at everyone else and compare yourself to them. When you believe that you’re not as good as someone else, the happiness and joy you once had is destroyed.
Personally, I struggle a lot with this. I have very high standards for myself, and when I fail to meet them and see others succeed, I feel like a failure. I compare myself to other people constantly. It’s difficult when it seems like everyone around you is succeeding while you feel like you’re drowning. I often begin to think “I’m the only one who struggles with this; everyone else seems perfectly fine”, but the reality is that every single person has his or her own cross to bear. Similarly, every single person has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. What may be simple for one person might be very difficult for another. And that’s okay. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to strength and weakness, there is just what it is and what it isn’t.
As Mark Twain said, “Comparison is the death of joy”. If you are happy and proud of what you have accomplished, own it. Continue to be happy and proud. If you aren’t happy, don’t compare yourself to others, but instead work harder the next time at whatever task it might be. Or reach out to the people you see is succeeding. Chances are, they’re working very hard, and they have also made mistakes. No matter what, remember that you are special and unique. No one else in the world has the same talents and gifts that you do, which is precisely why it is pointless to compare yourself to anyone else. The comparison will never match. And that’s how it should be.
The moment you begin to put yourself down because you haven’t reached someone else’s standard is the moment you lose your happiness because the standards will never be the same. This isn’t right or wrong, but simply how it is. Remember that you are strong, and you are unique. The world needs you with all your strengths and weaknesses. Continue to be who you are, and don’t let your mind or anyone else tell you otherwise. Let your joy shine!