The Silliest Form of Competition

Competition.  We all have struggled with it at one time or another.  But the silliest struggle with competition I've seen is when we compete about who has it the worst.  Can you guess what the majority of the arguments in my marriage have been about in the past few years?  Finances?  Nope, that may be top in the statistics but in our marriage.  Sex?  Well, maybe its a contender, but again, not like statistics say.  We argue about who has the largest burden to bear.  Who does the most work.  Who had the crappiest day.  I'm just being real here.  If we're going to compete about something, we could at least compete about who has it the best and who had the greatest thing happen in a day! 

Why do we do that as humans?  When someone is frustrated with there season in life, why do we wave ours over their head as if ours is worse?  What ever happened to "rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn?"  When you were in the end of your pregnancy and not sleeping at night, did you ever share that with someone just to hear them say, "Well wait until the baby comes out, then you won't sleep at all!"  All of us are in different seasons and situations and we cannot compare ourselves to each other because they are all so different!  I am convinced that EVERY season and situation has its challenges, no matter what it is. Singlehood, married with no kids, pregnancy, having a newborn, having more than one kid, stay at home mom, work at home mom, work away from the home mom, single parent, empty-nesters, grandparents, widows... We have to choose to focus on the good in them, or else we'll be depressed and miserable!  But when someone starts complaining about their season, why not just listen and encourage?

For those who share their hard times with others, maybe sometimes we want someone to feel sorry for us (I've been guilty of that).  But I think a lot of the time, we just want to know that someone else hears us.  We want to know someone else sees us in the battle.  We want be real.  At times we ask for advice, encouragement, hope... but its simply nice to know someone is listening.

What would happen if we started acknowledging each other, and speaking life into each other's situations instead of, "Well at least you don't have blah blah blah."  or "Just wait until bleh bleh bleh."  Hey, I've been on both sides so I'm the first to admit it.  Time to put all assumptions, comparisons, and judgment aside.  This life is really not about us.

"Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others."  Philippians 2:4