WE CAN DO IT

"To love is stop comparing."

Bernard Grassett

This is a photo I took of the trail I like to walk near my house. Normally there is a fair amount of panting, water breaks and deep appreciative I love the mountains sighing, but I can do the walk with over-exerting.
On this particular day, I was recovering from some intense Lyme treatments and my legs felt heavy, I couldn't catch my breath, and just being there felt like a push. As I looked longingly at the peak, I saw a person at the top who was much older and heavier than I am.

My automatic thought was "If they can do it, I can do it!"
And before that thought had time to hijack my mind, it was as if these words arose of their own accord - 
"We can do it! And we can only do what we can do on any given day." 

My whole body relaxed, there was a rush of warmth through my heart and it was if this death grip on my mind let go. 

We all compare ourselves, push ourselves, and measure ourselves against external standards. It's cultural, it's not our fault. But there are gobs and gobs of research proving comparisons are detrimental to our wellbeing on every level. 

In this instance, it was more than just cutting comparison. It was realizing- we are all in this together! We are a we! And each of us can only do what we can do at any given moment. And that moment will change. It's guaranteed. 

So I sat my butt down under a tree and rested, because, in that moment, that's what I could do. And the person at the top had made it to the top because that's what they could do, and it didn't really feel as if there was any difference. It wasn't them or me, it was us. It was we. We can do it. And when we don't separate/measure/judge/compare ourselves to everyone, but we each listen to our body-beings, we are unstoppable. We can do what we can do, and it actually feels like enough. We were both on the trail, being, doing, resting, walking, and it wasn't them and me. It was we.

Imagine if every success anyone had wasn't a blow to our own progress, but a celebration. Because someone else's success can either make us feel bad about where we think we are, or it can feel like our success as well! Separating ourselves from each other, and wishing we were anywhere other than where we are, is a trap. And that trap's name is doubt and misery.
Celebrating we, we can't lose! And we can appreciate, rejoice, and accept where we are, as we are, how we are when we are. So welcome to the party, because we're all here. Holy hell I hope I remember this...