I’ll say upfront that I’ve had a hard day, week, month at work recently and I’m very tired. I’m on train home right now, at a time when I would rather be in bed, so please forgive me if I’m slightly grumpy.
The week I’ve had (and am still having…) has involved me missing a lot of time with the kids and has therefore got me thinking about the concept of sacrifice.
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’? It’s really true – I deeply believe that comparing your life to others’ is the quickest and most damaging way to self-sabotage your personal happiness and financial security. And the rise of social media has just made this worse.
It is now easier than ever to view the thrilling things that other people are doing with their lives, and think “But what the hell am I achieving?” Not helped by the fact that, in that moment, what you are doing is clearly just staring at your phone.
Obviously you should never compare a highly staged moment from someone else’s life when considering your own complicated and wonderful existence, but we all do it. And it’s so hard to remember that a photo doesn’t tell you anything. You don’t know if someone’s dog is sick or if they’re going through a divorce. Anyone can slap a smile on for a split second and convince the world all is rosy.
And sometimes we also fail to remember that people rarely document the journey it took for them to make it to that moment. They don’t capture the 14 failed attempts before the one, noteworthy success, or how they used to work stacking shelves before ending up on the cover of magazines.
All we might get to see is the end result – not the journey. And so, when we’re on our own journey, and it’s tough and messy and involves sacrificing fun events, holidays, time with family, sleep… it only makes us feel worse if we don’t recognise that this sacrifice is as important and worthwhile (if not more so) than a snapshot of success taken at the end.
And don’t even get me started on those people who see only the results you achieve and somehow feel that they should be entitled to skip the journey and sacrifice bit altogether somehow and ‘get straight to the good part’.
Anyway, all this to say, that I’m tired. And this week I’ve sacrificed a lot for work but the sacrifices – which are so tough when you’re going through them – are all part of the process and, I have to believe, will be worth it in the end. Or at least, I hope so, given I am sat on this train, having missed bedtime with my kids yet again.
Edit: this was written on a tired Friday night before a great weekend with the kids involving tons of fun, catch up time and ice cream. So nothing is irredeemable – see my upcoming post on Mum Guilt!
