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This original proverb is ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’. It is a reminder that other people’s situation may always look better than yours even though that might not be true.
Until you’ve actually put yourself in the other person’s shoes, you will never know whether they’re in a better or worse situation.
I work in a gaming company. Some of my friends would say, “wow! That’s great!” or “sounds like fun!” or my favourite, “I want to join! Just play games all day”
OH, THEY WISH. They have no idea how crazy a gaming company can get. More so when it is a startup.
And it’s the same for me. Unlike most of my friends, I didn’t go to University. I went straight into working on my craft and building my portfolio.
Whenever I see my friends posting about studying and hanging out in Uni, I’d think about how care-free their lives are. When you fail a subject, you can always retake it next semester. But if you send wrong information or write a simple mistake at work, you’re screwed.
However, I’ll always stop the negative thoughts about comparing my life with theirs. Why? Because I have no idea what they’re going through. They might be stressing over a thesis or burning the midnight oil just to finish an assignment. Who knows? Some of them might even be working 3X harder than I am because they need to work part-time to pay off tuition fee.
When I stop comparing, I start to focus on myself.
Sure, the grass may seem greener on the other side but I can work to make mine into a beautiful garden. And I do that by working on my craft, trying new things, learning from my many failures and not giving up. It might not look like much now but my garden (of life) is so much greener than a year ago.
I hope you will take time to appreciate your life and everything around you.
If life is currently a struggle, work towards changing it for the better. Don’t give up. Stop comparing and start working. You can do it. I believe in you.
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This post was previously published on www.medium.com/ and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: iStock