Humans like to pretend.
We pretend that we’re going to be the smartest person on the planet. Or the strongest. Or the richest. Or whatever superlative is on the tip of your tongue!
In reality, we tend to care less about absolutes and more about comparisons to those around us.
If you can be the smartest person in the room, who cares if smarter people exist in other rooms? If you can be the strongest person at your local gym, who cares about the possibility of stronger people working out in other gyms? If you’re the richest couple in your neighborhood, who cares if you’re not living in the most exclusive neighborhood in the world?
We tend to compare ourselves to the people around us.
TV news and social media have made us more aware of the differences that exist in the larger world. Still, we tend to care less about wars raging in faraway countries and more about petty conflicts closer to home.
Growth brings about some changes. If we start out wanting to be the best chess player at our local high school, we may eventually compete against chess grandmasters. As we get better and better at chess, we compare ourselves to the people who are also getting better at chess, not the ones we’ve left behind.
The level of excellence in the people around us may change as we continue to grow. Sometimes, “a rising tide lifts all boats”; however, there’s more to the story. We can grow in some ways while remaining stuck in other ways. The people close to us are always changing.
And humans tend not to be satisfied.
We figure we could be so incredibly happy if we could just get to know a local celebrity. Then, once we get to know a local celebrity, we want more. We could be even happier if we could get to know a national celebrity!
And the chase goes on and on…
Leave a Reply