Comparison with others serves no purpose, but ...

I was watching Michelle Bridges' 12WBT Weekly Mindset video the other night and she was saying that comparison with others serves no purpose if it is going to have a negative impact on you. I have not really been one to compare myself with others. I often admire, but I am lucky in that I rarely envy. But I often compare what I was like with what I am now and I am not happy with that. And yes, it can be negative. It can be immobilising. I know I can't swim like I used to look like I was when I was younger, or be the same person I was all those years ago. But I really don't want to either.

No, I have to backstep on that - I would absolutely love to be able to swim as fast as I used to because that ability was wasted on the younger me. I was so fearful and nervous and terrified of failure that I never enjoyed racing. I think that now I would, maybe just maybe, have better perspective and not be crippled by the anxiety of the past. But that is not something that I can really test as my 56-year-old body is not going to swim as fast as my 16-year-old body.
But I can be the best version of me. The me of now who has a gorgeous son, still has a mother alive, great friends who take me with all my foibles, and two dogs who think I am just perfect (such perceptive and intelligent canines).

Michelle Bridges

Anyway, back to the story. I was watching Michelle's video broadcast and I was agreeing with everything she was saying. Then realised I had wasn't actually listening. I had totally zoned out and was, instead, fixated on her lovely toned arms, thinking to myself "I want arms that look like hers!" It wasn't envy, it was admiration. It wasn't me thinking "How dare she have arms that are toned without any batwings." It was me thinking, "She has worked hard for those arms and all that hard work has paid off for her."


The Future Me!

Then she started talking about how, as we are nearly a third of the way through the program, it would be a good idea to revisit our goals. And I thought to myself that I need to devise a goal that relates to my biceps. Because I already know what the reward will be - wearing a sleeveless top for the first time in over 30 years.

So, sometimes comparisons are useful, especially when they are used for inspiration.

My next blog will be how I may be becoming a 12WBT zealot :)