Another small story:
A man was running in a 1000-meter race.
After running 200 metres, he looked back and saw that the rest of the runners were after him. Happily he ran on.
After 500 meters, he looked back again and was happy that he was still leading and ran on.
Every few meters, he did the same thing and finally won the race.
If the man had not looked back and concentrated only on running faster, he would have won the race in a much shorter span of time. He would have probably set a new record! In the same way, in our lives also, if our concentration is always fully on our own progress instead of on others, we can actualize our entire potential. But we keep looking at others and miss out on realizing our full potential.
Just lock yourself in a room and analyze how much of time and energy you waste in comparison with others; more than 60% I am sure. Especially comparison and jealousy can sap your energy like nothing else can. Your mind can get so busy, working out and calculating how the other person has managed whatever he possesses. Your mind can get so heated up. Your whole system can get sapped because of these unwanted calculations. You can simply drain your energy in no time because of comparison and jealousy.
We are all the time talking of conserving petrol, water and electricity. What about conserving our own energy? What about using our own energy in a proper way? Why are we not conscious of our own energy? We don’t see ourselves as blessed with energy; that is the reason. We are able to see outside sources of energy being wasted because we see the energy in tangible form. Whereas our own energy, we simply dissipate it in deep unconscious ways and then complain that we have not been given enough.
If you used all your energy for your own expansion, just imagine how much you can achieve. You can simply expand and enjoy with a feeling of liberation.
See, the thing about comparison is, you always measure yourself with the weakest link in yourself or your performance. This is the trouble. Why do you want to do that? Never measure yourself with the weakest link. You don’t have to be egoistic and claim yourself to something great. But you can have some self-respect and see that you are unique unto yourself. Then you won’t measure yourself in this way.
When you have self-respect, you appreciate that each one is unique and understand that there is no scope for comparison. This is also the first step towards feeling grateful for just being!
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This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.
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