Look Down

We always strive for higher, farther, bigger, and more. We measure our worth by how much we achieve in competitive and comparative terms, what matters is to achieve more than others. It’s not good enough just to learn; you have to score higher than a peer. It’s not good enough to have an enjoyable and rewarding life; you should have a better life than your neighbors do. It’s not good enough to enjoy playing football; winning is what matters.

But we also set ourselves up for disappointment because there will always be someone who’s gone farther or done better. We’re each dealt a different hand by life. Some are taller and some are shorter, richer and poorer, healthier, funnier, and prettier. That’s why there will always be someone who has “more” than you. We forget the flip side of this distribution curve – each of them has also “less” than you in at least one other thing. It’s just how the game of life is designed.

As we look up at others, we focus on the parts where we fall short. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to advance in life, but looking up, to compare, will end in vain. There will always be a reason to feel that what you may have achieved is not good enough. I look up at my manager, and he looks up at the chief executive. Models look up at prettier supermodels, and millionaires look up at billionaires.

Focus on becoming a better person regardless of how you compare to others. Work hard, grow, make a difference in this world, and feel good about yourself. Stop looking at what you don’t have. What you don’t have is infinite. Instead of looking up at those who appear to have more than you, look down at the others who have less. If you can afford to buy a coffee for a couple of dollars, be grateful, because there are people who live on less than the cost of a coffee a day. If you can drink a glass of water, be grateful, because there are people do not have access to clean water. If you have a home, be grateful, because there are homeless people freezing on the streets.

Looking down helps you appreciate the good things in your life. You may even learn to be grateful for your own sorrows when you see that there’s always someone with deeper wounds. In comparison, you realize that, by a stroke of good luck, you have been spared. While you may not be the luckiest, you surely aren’t the unluckiest. If you are not so sure, then please look down.