Why Our Parents Were Right About The Grass Never Being Greener On The Other Side
Why do we always think that people have it better than we do? Because they have money? Because they are better looking? Because they have more friends? It's this constant comparison to other people that causes us to believe we are the only ones tormented by the pain of life.
Not only does this notion that other people are better off inhibit us from never fully live our own lives, but we are too old to still believe that no one has problems. Everyone has problems. Everyone is in his or her own world of silent yearning and misery.
You see the guarded exterior these people project to the world but you have no idea what's really going on in their minds, in their homes. To think that even one person lives without regrets and torment is juvenile.
"We are all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing" -Charles Bukowski
Life is a series of illusions and parades that people put on to make themselves feel better. They project the person they want to be, and not the person lying in bed awake at 2 am. It's a game of show and tell, where the least crazy person wins. But that's not real life.
Real life is crying because someone broke your heart, or hating how you look when you catch yourself in the mirror. Real life is feeling alone when you're surrounded by friends. Real life is heartache and misery.
Everyone looks better from afar. It's impossible to see the cracks and the bruises up close. It's not until you really get to know someone do you understand that his or her life is not something to envy. Just because your favorite celebrities are rich and beautiful doesn't mean they are happy.
Chances are, they are much more insecure and disillusioned than you. It's the people in the spotlight who are constantly forced to examine their lives and their worth. They are the ones under scrutiny, being judged for every action, every stupid remark and every mistake.
Even the most beautiful women in the world are insecure. They live their lives constantly comparing themselves to the women who are more beautiful than they are.
Her world has become her looks and that becomes her worth. The slightest wrinkle causes her agony when her only purpose in life is to look beautiful.
Not until you realize that everyone is miserable will you finally be at peace. You must understand that no one is truly happy and that everyone is just trying to cast their demons. Once you realize this, you will not waste your life chasing superficial goals and desires.
So stop wasting your life wondering what life would be like if you were prettier or smarter or richer. Stop thinking that getting that penthouse apartment will make you any happier, because it won't.
Stop thinking that everyone else has a better life and you are the only one who has pain. Yet again, our parents were right; the grass is never greener on the other side. Once you really understand that, you can finally start living your life.
"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete everybody will respect you. " -Lao Tzu
Top Photo: Banksy Instagram
