Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

[@houdini2022]

Excellent excellent advice. Thank you!

[@chiefleadership]

Thanks Paula

[@Keynote24]

I love this and thank you for sharing it! Such a great message to tell your kids and others. 👏

[@chiefleadership]

Thanks Jenna!

[@VKDM8687]

I totally NEEDED this....yes! THANK YOU!

[@chiefleadership]

You are very welcome Hulk.....AKA Ryan. :)

[@jimallen8186]

Can you put the quote into more context? When was it said and what was said before and after? What was the goal of saying it? Seems to me “comparison is the thief of joy” is rather Stoic. Stoicism and similarly Confucianism have some problems in that they both suggest accepting your lot reduces misery. Yet what both really seek in this is accepting the authority of the state. Remember Stoicism really came forth with the writings of a Roman emperor while Confucius was an administrator of and advisor to the state. Consider great works come from those who do not accept their lot in life to include TR himself. His actions were not those of one accepting his lot. A sickly child, he decided to take up ranching, safari, and soldiering. He certainly made comparisons, after all, he did go after corporate titans comparing and more importantly highlighting the contrasts between them and common persons. You don’t bust trusts without making comparisons. Which brings me back to context. And scale within the context. Consider for a moment a rule breaker. We like rule breakers and we don’t like rule breakers. The difference? Those who break rules for the benefit of the group or others we like while those breaking rules for self we don’t. Consider this when it comes to comparison and applications of comparisons. Were the suffragettes robbing joy? Did Frederick Douglas? Gandhi? MLK? No, but their comparisons were at a group level as opposed to individual. Comparison may steal joy, yet preserving joy brings contentedness which stifles action. Why spend energy, time, effort if content? Consider also Danny Kahneman suggests it is better to reduce misery than to increase happiness. Raise the floor as opposed to the ceiling. What are the implications of integrating this to the concern of comparison? “Give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar’s and unto god what belongs to god” would suggest accepting one’s lot and not making comparisons yet clearing out the temple shows the opposite in action. Yet, perhaps, there is distinction here in that one is aimed at avoiding individual comparison while the other takes concern from group comparison. Hence back to TR, what was the context of the quote and the scale of its application?

[@jimallen8186]

A scarcity mindset is evolutionary; comparison too is evolutionary. Look into the monkey studies regarding fairness and other studies regarding cooperation within various animal groups. When it comes to evolutionary patterns, realize they are so ingrained and entrenched that they are nearly impossible to break. Even if broken they are liable to snap back in place. Breaking is temporary and energy intensive. Further, they’ve proven to be valid to survival. They’ve shown merit empirically over time. It is possible circumstances have changed making them less valid or no longer valid yet you won’t be able to simply switch them off.