I came across this quote last night while going through my Facebook posts. I read it and moved on. Then it hit me, it really hit me. I found myself searching through my newsfeed to find it again. It brought tears to my eyes as I felt a sense of freedom come over me.
I have for so long compared myself, my parenting, my LIFE to others based on what I read on Facebook. Too many times, I found myself asking the following questions:
"Why can't my kid behave like her kid?"
"Why can't my house be as clean as their house?"
"Why am I not happy like her?"
"Why doesn't his kid have meltdowns like mine do?"
... and so on and so on. I would literally beat myself up over some of it. It seems my insecurity and self doubt has increased immensely since my introduction to Facebook. Why did it take me so long to realize this?
For me, Facebook can be a time to vent, a time to share funny stories a time to catch up with old friends- my highlight reel. But what I don't post is my/ our "behind-the-scenes" but I live it daily. I tend to forget that other people and other families have "behind-the-scenes" experiences as well.
I have decided that from here on out, I will no longer compare myself to others. I will not compare my children, their abilities, talents, etc to other children. I will not allow other peoples' highlight reel to determine my feelings of self-worth. It comes down to this... I do not know other peoples' behind-the-scenes circumstances and they do not know mine. It is NONE of my business what other people do, how they raise their children and so on. My job, first and foremost is to make sure I am raising my boys to the best of my ability... the rest will then fall into place.
