The Best Me

It can be hard not to compare yourself to others.  Often times we have an idea of what we want out of our lives whether that is material things or something like an ideal body image or a state of mind.  Like the saying, 'The grass isn't always greener on the other side...' that is very true when it comes to how we may perceive a specific lifestyle or body image. We often assume that something is better simply because we don't really know what it is like, but hey! it looks good.

I have had a lot of conversations with people regarding body image or weight loss.  It's amazing how harsh we can be to ourselves, when in reality we should be celebrating small successes.  But, the reason we are so hard on ourselves is because we are constantly comparing skill levels, abilities, appearances that are not our own.  Today, I attended a free yoga class at the park.  The teacher kept reminding us that we were to go at our own pace, that yoga wasn't about competition and whatever level we can do, is perfect for our bodies.   He also kept reminding us not to compare our abilities to one another.

This is what made me really think about how much on a daily basis we are comparing our lives to others and not doing what is best for our own bodies, minds and spirits.  What works for someone else isn't going to work for you... so why do we try so hard to be like other people? And maybe it's not the attempt to be like someone else, rather to just have energy of another person when in reality maybe we could achieve an amazing energy by just being the best you that you can possibly be.

I guess it had me thinking about what my goals are and why I have specific goals. Was I basing my goals off of something I wanted to be or something that I knew I was and just had to work towards? I think this strongly relates to diabetes because we are constantly being judged, not just by our doctors or education team, but by ourselves.  We see numbers every single day that we treat like olympic score board results.  We judge ourselves based on what other diabetics are doing. Is our a1c lower than theirs? Are we better or worse than them?

It is really hard not to compare ourselves or judge ourselves so harshly, but I do want to put forth the effort in trying to be positive towards myself and put my energy into making the best me I can be.

Kayla