“Do you find yourself contrasting how someone else’s life looks on the outside, with how yours feels on the inside?
Can it feel as though everyone else is doing it ‘better’?
Is compare and despair an easy trap for you to fall into?
Me too. My inner critic absolutely loves to jump into this place.
A snapshot of someone else’s life can bring up a whole lot of stuff for many of us. Especially if it lands in a tender spot.
This was brought to life for me recently - but from the other side of the experience…
A few months ago someone I know saw me running across Waterloo Bridge on a Monday morning.
From their perspective I had obviously run all the way from where we live (12 miles away).
And it was clearly something I did every day (both ways), at either end of my glamorous and high powered City role.
This brought up a lot of stuff for them. If I could do it, why weren’t they?
Thank goodness we bumped into each other a few weeks later and I could let their brain off the hook.
I had actually had an unusually adventurous Monday morning. I took the train into London and ran across it to meet a fabulous frolleague for brunch.
I took this photo at a high point - energised by the fresh air, the change of scene, the catch up, and the sheer joy of being self-propelled.
But I definitely wasn’t running 24 miles. Or fitting it around a City job.
It was a real gift to be able to compare experiences from that day, and it brought it home to me how important it is to remember:
That we are only ever seeing one perspective.
To manage our minds before they take us off into a spiral.
To be super kind to ourselves along the way.
What stories is your brain making up about other people?
And how can you remember that it’s just a snapshot rather than the whole picture?
Wishing you all a wonderful week,
