Tag Archives: accept

Comparing self to others

Posted on by
1

Do we benefit or lose when we compare ourselves to others? Is it good to compare to get a better sense of self or does that act simply push us further away from self [and others]?

  • We compare what we are not… I’m not strong enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not pretty enough. I’m not skinny enough. 
  • We compare what we don’t have… I don’t have a car. I don’t have an outlet. I don’t have a good job. I don’t have a significant other. I don’t have friends. I don’t have energy. 
  • We compare where we are not… I’m not as successful as my peers. I don’t have a place of my own. I am not where I predicted I’d be at this point in my life.
  • We compare our present to our past… Life was easier. I was healthier. I could run for miles. I could eat anything and not gain a pound. I was happier. Growing up sucks.

Any type of comparison is negative – it builds, defends, or hurts the Ego. You are not your Ego… the Ego is a part of you and it’s good to know when you are calling the shots and when your Ego takes charge. The Ego is a culmination of expectations, assumptions, judgements, predictions, and shameful events of the past. The Ego can protect us, but it can also blind us. Even those comparisons where we label ourselves above self and others – I am stronger, I am smarter, I am healthier, I am prettier – are all ego-boosting judgements and don’t really help anything in the long run. To think that you are better than someone else or better than your past self pushes you further away from a true reality – we are all equals and you are equal to your past self because it is a part of who you are, not who you aren’t.

  • Are you able to accept yourself the way that you are? If not, why?
  • Are you able to not judge, not assume, not expect, not predict, and not shame self or others? If not, why? Can you take note of when you do and why that occurs?
  • Are you able to be happy regardless of who, where, or what you are? If not, why?
  • How do you define happy? What makes you unhappy? What isn’t enough? What are you lacking? What are you comparing? Why are you comparing?

It’s good to take perspective on yourself and others. It’s good to know who, what, and where you are not, but that should not define who you are. We all grow, evolve, and mature at different rates, times, and ages. Don’t let your Ego prevent you or your perspective of others from being.

jdperryhealth.com
jdperryhealth.tumblr.com
jdperryhealth@gmail.com

We Are All Doing Our Best

Posted on by
2

Our full potential is 100%, right?

We do our very best to give 100% of 100% of ourselves.

Sometimes we are only able to give 80%, 75%, or even 50% of 100% of ourselves.

Whether we give 80% or 50%, we are still giving our best effort of 80% or 50%.

We all have emotions, beliefs, obstacles, burdens, struggles, conflicts, past pains, judgements, and shames that have the ability to limit our potential.

Let’s say you and I are in the same class together. We have a test one morning that is graded immediately. After 10 minutes you hand in your test and get back a 100% of 100%. After 30 minutes I hand in my test and get back 30% of 100%. Naturally, we can conclude that you’re smarter than me based off of the grade and the time it took to complete… but is that really true based off of one (or even several repeated) experience(s)?

What if I didn’t eat a good breakfast that morning and that affected my blood sugar, mental clarity, and ability to retain information?

What if I wasn’t able to fully study because I had to take care of my little brother who has been sick for quite some time?

What if I was dealing with an internal emotional battle because my parents were going through a divorce?

What if I don’t care about school and constantly fail tests, but that is a manifestation of a sexual shame that I experienced when I was younger to believe I am not good enough in present day?

What if I knew all of the answers but chose to fail because it was more fulfilling to be perfectly “stupid” rather than being perfectly “smart”?

I may have failed the test, but I was giving my best – it may not have been my 100% best, but it was my best effort given my situation(s).

Do not judge, assume, or blame others for their faults (we do that enough to ourselves) – have faith, trust, and encourage others for their abilities.

Do not give people the benefit of the doubt – give people the benefit, the respect, and the empathy that they deserve.

Be kind. For everyone you meet if fighting a hard battle. - Plato

Define: Healthy

Image

Reply

Eat this, not that. This is healthy, that is unhealthy. These have antioxidants, that increases oxidation. This fat is good, that fat is bad. Carbs are good, carbs are bad. Coffee is good, coffee is bad. I’m right, you’re wrong.

What the hell is healthy anymore? Every day we’re told to do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that (yes, I’m a guilty party, too). Who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong? Furthermore, who’s to say that my definition of right and wrong is the exact same as your definition of right and wrong? It’s im-freaking-possible.

I think society has bought into the desire for a black and white solution for health (amongst other things – come oooooon lottery ticket!), and that makes it very easy to capitalize at another’s expense. People tend to treat their symptoms of dis-ease with extremes – diets, pills, surgery, exercise, or vices – and rarely address the cause.  We all want to be healthy, but we also have our different reasons to be healthy and our different reasons for why we may be unhealthy.

With every study done there will be another study that completely negates those “facts.” And even the people who originally did the study may come out months from now saying to do this instead. The FDA renews the food pyramid every 5 years or so. But if that pyramid was full of facts and not biased opinions, then there wouldn’t be as great of a need for the medical industry or for me to write this blog. It’s good to research, learn, and listen to other perspectives, but you must ask yourself… what fuels that research, who is paying for those perspectives, and what other facts are out there that say otherwise? I’m speculating because think that holds true for the majority of what we hear on TV, on the radio, in magazines, and in published health journals by accredited doctors.

The only I can really approach this situation is to give the most general health/life guide that I can…

Learn about everything. Don’t believe everything.

Listen to your body and spirit for they know best.

You are a spirit, a mind, an ego, a child, and a body – understand who makes decisions.

Find a balance with everything in your life.

Build your path one brick at a time – life is rarely a straight, smooth path.

You are the only one responsible for your life and how you perceive your reality.

Accept yourself for who you were in the past and for who you are in this moment.

Forgiveness of self and others will open many doors.

Continually better yourself in the present.

Trust in the future and in yourself.

Be happy.

 

jdperryhealth.com

jdperryhealth.tumblr.com

jdperryhealth@gmail.com