Keep Your Eyes On Your Own Paper (or Yoga Mat)
A few nights ago one of the bendiest girls ever rolled her mat out next to mine in a yoga class. One of those effortless-looking torso-to-thigh-sandwiching (if you're a yogi, you know what I'm talking about) types.
I'm sure when I first started doing yoga I would have spent that entire 90 minutes comparing myself to her, wondering why I wasn't that flexible, wishing I could make it look that easy, and finding ways to diminish her practice to make myself feel better.
But this time it made me smile.
She had a beautiful practice which she clearly worked at, had amazing focus, and it was really sweet to flow next to her.I got to use her practice as inspiration rather than cause for self-degradation.
But isn't it mind-boggling how much energy we waste in our lives comparing ourselves to others or wishing things were different than they are?
I could have spent that whole class beating myself up about the fact that my body will probably never be able to move in some of the ways that this girl's was moving.
But the reality is, I'm working with the body I'm working with, and that girl is working with the body she's working with.
Pretending anything otherwise is just crazy-making.
Oh yah, and also, whether or not I have a perfectly pancaked paschimottanasana has nothing to do with my value as a human being.
When we get lost in our monkey mind it's so easy to get confused into believing our worth is somehow tied up with how perfect our backbend is or how much positive feedback we get from our boss or whether that guy called us back.
And doubting our own worth prompts us to look around and stack ourselves up against other people. "Well I'm not as good as her, but at least I'm better than her ..."
But you can't win the comparison game, because if you want to believe you're "better" than someone, you have to believe you're "worse" than someone, too.
So if you ever find yourself needing a reminder to help avoid going down the insanity rabbit hole, here's a little cheat sheet.
Two shortcuts to suffering:
Constantly compare yourself to everyone around you.
Pretend you can change things that are actually out of your control.
Two antidotes to suffering:
Keep your eyes on your own paper (or yoga mat).
Let yourself let go of things you can't control.
Yep, pretty simple. Not always easy, but simple.
The more you focus on doing what feels right to you in your life, the less energy you'll waste worrying about what other people are doing, and the more you let go of control where you don't have it (and don't need to have it) the more peace and freedom you'll get to swim in.
So how about getting your eyes back here on the truth of your own inherent worthiness and letting the rest go?
Lots of Love,