Life has been busy, not only for me, but for all those other bloggers in my blog list on the side of my page, here. Some of them haven't been active for a couple years or more! And, I guess, some of them could be *ahem* old links I haven't updated.
Seriously, how do people do it? There are homeschool bloggers who knock my socks off! I mean, they get up earlier than their kids to spend at least an hour in the Bible & prayer, plan out their lessons, most even make their own printables, presumably have clean laundry (I count it if it's still in a pile in a basket or on the floor in front of the dryer NOT folded, I'm not a stickler), are cooking gluten-free Paleo meals for their family, taking amazing pictures of clean kids while they're doing an exciting Science experiment, and THEN blog about it all.
Now, I am not picking on anyone, for real. Honestly, the "perfect" bloggers are usually the first to tell you they are NOT perfect, nor do they pretend their pictures actually tell the whole REAL story! Yet, I can still let these pictures of perfection totally trip me up. I can start picking apart what my house looks like compared to so-and-so's; second-guess the curriculum or lesson plan that's still obviously working for our kids because it doesn't seem as "advanced" as others; and feel like a failure as a mother and home educator.
Sound familiar to you at all?
A couple of years ago I was put in a position where it was obvious to me God was asking me to step in the gap and teach our youth group on Wednesday nights. It was not an easy decision, for so many reasons, yet it was what it was. So, I began kinda arguing with God, "You know, it's been a while since I was a teenager. And, you know, I was SO not a cool teenager. In fact, we both know I was a pretty big dork." [think: Sue Heck]
"How can I relate at all, teach them about you to where they will actually hear You & not my dorkiness... I seriously think you've got the wrong lady."
Do you know what happened? We went to a homeschool convention. Not the youth group, my family! HA! Like any expo, there were lots of free magazines and literature being passed around. You know what I found myself doing? Gazing upon a homeschool magazine cover, there was a family of 8ish, the Mom was nice and skinny, the family all in jeans and white collar shirts. And, I started comparing. Then, I was reminded that I had done the SAME thing when I was a teenager. Remember SEVENTEEN? I poured over that magazine & wanted to look like those girls SO badly.
Not much has changed, has it?
That little lesson taught me that we are all just trying to fit in with others. We're just trying to be "normal." Because, when I shared that with those teenagers, I could sense the interest behind the looks of indifference. If you've ever been a teenager, you know what I mean!
And, now that I'm an old Mom, I think Sue Heck is awesome!
Am I the only one who falls into the comparison trap? What do you do to combat this?
1 comment:
I stop that stinkin thinking! lol funny, cause we have been talking about the whole don't compare yourself to others topic at our house right now. depending upon who you compare yourself with you will always make yourself unhappy. It's a trap we all fall in to. Rush Limbaugh (yuck!) was even talking about a study the other day about Facebook and how people are finding themselves depressed because of course on facebook, most people are sharing the positive snippets of their lives, without showing us the whole picture (the other half is airing all their dirty laundry and that can be just as bad). It took me a long time and I'm still working on it myself not to compare but to be thankful. Good post Mandy! Glad to see you hoping back in to blogging too!
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