Honesty Week - Monday - The Pitfall of Comparing

I'm participating in Honesty Week at Women Living 4 Jesus. Today's question deals with a pitfall, trap or error we allowed in our lives, how it changed who we are, what we learned, and how we address it now. So, here goes...

One pitfall I face time and time again is comparing myself to others. And whether I come out on top or on bottom, it's an unhealthy place to be. I can remember snubbing a girl that was different than me in Kindergarten, or looking down on the kids in First grade who didn't make the highest reading group with me. By Third grade, the comparisons flipped. I was now the overweight girl with the highest weight recorded at our trip to the nurse's office.

I wished I had learned early on that we're not meant to be like anyone else but ourselves. Michele Cervone Scott was never meant to be Oprah, and Oprah could never excel at being Michele Cervone Scott. When I put others down because we are different, I miss their value and contributions. And when I focus on how I don't measure up, I miss the value & gifts God has placed in me. In fact, I hide them for fear they're not good enough, that I'm not good enough.

It has taken me a long time to see my right value in the world - not more value or less value, but right value. I'm ready to take my place again and be the only Michele Cervone Scott God intended there to be.