KATIE
We are always told to never compare ourselves to someone else. That’s the truth. No one will ever be who we are and everyone’s path is different.
However, when it happens time and time again, it becomes engrained in you.
My biological father was emotionally and mentally abusive. If it wasn’t “the best,” it wasn’t “good enough.” When other people’s successes are pointed out more than yours are and your failures are the subject of ridicule or belittling laughter, it isn’t something you can just throw away.
Even now, it is a struggle for me to see my successes in a positive light.
Much like someone saying, “just stop feeling that way,” whenever I hear someone say “well, just don’t compare yourself to others,” its an unintentional punch in the gut. You can’t change the way you think in a day or even a year. You can take steps every day to do things that make you genuinely feel good and see yourself as the wonderful person you are, but it is a journey.
The greatest choice I ever made was to step away from someone who treated me that way, but the struggles are still there. I continue to struggle with self-image, skin picking and depression. This is years later.
But it has gotten better. Some days will be better than others. Some days will be a struggle, but you will get through it.
These sorts of things don’t fade away, but I promise, they do get better.