When we compare ourselves to others we give away a small part of our uniqueness, taking away from our own gifts and talents. We honor others for what they have achieved and for their talents and characteristics and should expect them to honor us in return.
It is when we are envious of others and what they possess that we do the greatest damage to ourselves. If we only knew what their thoughts were and what they had gone through to achieve their success it is unlikely we would want anything to do with it.
Wise persons of the ages have stated that if all people in the whole world were to dump their problems in one pile and we were to go through that pile, we would be extremely happy to settle for our own problems.
We just don't know what the other person feels until we have been in his shoes. What does he think and why does he think that way? What circumstances has he been through? What obstacles has he had to overcome to achieve whatever it is that he has achieved?
When we can truthfully answer those questions we can know how the other persons feels and what has been required of him. The one thing we can know is our own thoughts and feelings, the circumstances we have allowed to bring us to our current position in life, and the choices we have made to bring us to where we are.
This allows us to honor others without comparing ourselves to them. And we should rightfully expect others to extend the same consideration to us.
