How do you define success? Is it money? Status? Is it dependent on comparing yourself to what others around you have achieved? I have noticed a lot lately that many people compare their lives to others, in order to gauge whether or not their lives are successful.Why must we always compare ourselves to others? Our success is always looked at in comparison to the success of our peers. What we should really be doing is looking at our own lives, our own goals and figuring out what we want to accomplish and get it done. Even if we have similar goals to others, it doesn’t mean we aren’t successful because we don’t accomplish them as fast or whatever else. We as a society are so caught up in comparing ourselves to everyone else, with social media being the highlight reel of the best parts of everyone’s lives. We are no longer happy for our friend’s successes, we are jealous and let their successes be a factor in our own insecurities. There is nothing wrong with jealousy. It’s natural. But when we start resenting others and not just being happy for them, that’s when it becomes an issue.
I feel as though I genuinely have different goals for my life than everyone I am friends with, or close to. Which I suppose makes it easier for me not to compare my life as much to theirs. But in the past year, more than ever, I realized how important it is to just focus on your own life. Not worry so much about what everyone else is doing. Everyone does things at their own pace. Everyone’s lives are different. Different choices lead you down different paths. That doesn’t make your path any less successful or meaningful. That’s just life. Embrace it.
It’s funny because during my solo driving the past couple weeks, I thought a lot about this. I thought of how some people would probably be jealous of the fact that I am driving across the country and wishing they could do the same. I thought about how some might think what I am doing is stupid and how I choose to document it all on instagram and Facebook is annoying, and they are not envious at all, mostly just annoyed. I thought of those friends of mine who may have a bit of jealousy, but are just genuinely happy for me, as they know this road trip is making me even happier than I had already become. No matter what you do in life, you won’t please every one. So you might as well just focus on pleasing yourself and being the best version of yourself you can be. There will always be the naysayers, the haters and the jealous ones. They aren’t worth more than a footnote in the story of your life.
i am not the word 
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