Comparison is a Thief.

"Comparison is the thief of JOY." ~Theodore Roosevelt

And yet, I do it. Every day. 

Even though I know it gets me nowhere. NO. WHERE. Well, it gets me somewhere. Just not where I want to be. 
And I don't just do it with material things. Like comparing my house with a bigger one. I compare my mothering with other mothers. My acts of service with others' acts of service. My child with another child. I compare my entire day with a snapshot I see of another mom's day on Instagram. It's never-ending. 
And it robs me of my Joy. My daily successes. My favorite bits of the day. The tiny moments of life meant just for me. It comes silently and rips them from my grip until all I see are my failures. My not so great bits of the day. And a cloud settles over me. It takes my joy and leaves me riddled with guilt and self-pity and "if I'd only." 
But. I have found that comparison sneaks in ONLY when I am seeking the approval of man rather than God. Galatians 1:10 says, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." How can I serve Christ if I'm constantly comparing my life with someone else's? 
I can't. 
If I continue to compare myself with others, I'll never measure up. Because there's no end to comparison. It goes on and on and on until it completely sucks the joy right out of life. Until there is nothing left, but envy and anxiety and dissatisfaction and resentment.
So I have a choice. I can choose to compare (which is basically like telling God, "hey! This life you gave me? Yeah, it's not good enough so....") and continue to feel empty with each comparison I make. Or I can choose to seek the approval of God and focus on what He wants for me. 
I choose the latter and the happiness and contentment that comes with it. Is it gonna go perfectly? Nope. Probably not. But I'm sure gonna try. 
Follow The Iowa Farmer's Wife on Instagram, Twitter, & Pinterest

New Year's Day Activity: Blessings Box

One of our New Year's Resolutions for 2013 is to be more mindful of our blessings. Our lives are full of so many wonderful things we tend to take for granted, and,I thought a Blessings Box would be the perfect way to incorporate gratitude into our daily routine. I've seen blessing jars around Pinterest and magazines, but when I saw Melissa & Doug's Decorate Your Own Jewelry Box, I knew it was the perfect box for counting our blessings.

My daughter received the box as a Christmas gift and set to work decorating it the day after Christmas. 

I talked to her about what we'd be doing with the box and she told me her bear, Beary was a blessing. I mentioned our family as a blessing, then she wrote both things on two separate slips of paper, folded them up and stuck them in the box. 

Our plan is to keep the box, slips of paper and a marker next to my daughter's bed. Each night before bed we'll talk about our blessings as we talk about our day, choose one to write down and place it in the box. 

At the end of 2013, we'll dump out our box and look back at how we've been blessed throughout the year. Such a simple way to practice gratitude each day of the year.

For more fun ideas and activities using Melissa & Doug products, check out the Melissa & Doug blog.


FTC Disclosure: This post and activity is sponsored by Melissa & Doug. All personal opinions and/or views regarding Melissa & Doug are my own and may differ from other users of Melissa & Doug products. I received compensation for this post.