Stop Comparing Yourself

One of the most crippling fears we have is that of not measuring up. Perhaps you feel you won't impress others because they are more confident, successful, intelligent or attractive than you. Such thinking is misguided. The secret of doing well with others is accepting yourself as you are.

This is story about a student, who kept a diary filled with private memories. Some were painful recollections from childhood when he felt hurt, confused, lonely and insecure. He had described fragments of dreams and intensely personal feelings of anger and hatred, as well as things he enjoyed such as Magic shops and coin dealers.

Then a terrible thing happened. After dinner one night he realized that he had left his diary in the cloakroom outside the campus dinning hall. Terrified that somebody might read it and find out the truth about him, he raced back, only to discover that it was gone.

Weeks passed, and eventually he gave up hope of ever finding it again. A month later, he was hanging up his jacket in the same place when he saw his brown, tattered Diary, just where he had left it. Nervously he flicked through the pages and found that a stranger had written this entry: "God bless you. I'm a lot like you, only I don't keep a diary, I'm grateful to know there are others like me. I hope things turn out well for you."

Tears came to his eyes. It had never dawned on him that anyone could know his inner feelings and also feel things just like the way he did.

So no matter what, whether you're rich or poor, insecure or outgoing, brilliant or average, attractive or plain-some, there are people like you. Discard your fears of not measuring up, and accept yourself as you are.

Author: Unknown