If I were to write a proverb it would be,
Two things are guaranteed to make one unhappy :
expectation and comparison.
For our expectations can place a heavy weight of performance on ourselves and others, and comparison is always between what we know and what we think we know.
Those of us who tend towards perfectionism, struggle especially with these practices, always wanting better, always seeing what we want in the lives of those around us.
Though high expectations can motivate us to reach for the stars, they can also become unwritten ‘rules’, enslaving us in our pursuits. Though high expectations, placed on others, can sometimes be good (when our expectations are for service we pay for, fair treatment from others) they can also isolate us from those who love us, sincerely yet imperfectly.
Though comparison can sometimes open our eyes to new and different ways of doing things, more often it is used like school students, peeking at the mark their peers got on a test, mentally positioning themselves (ourselves) above or below them in value.
When God had announced to Abraham and Sarah that they would finally become parents (at a most … unnatural … age for this to occur, he asked of them (Genesis 18:14):
“is anything too hard for the Lord?”
In God we can place our expectations and he will not just meet, but exceed them. There is no other to compare to him. He is beyond human comparison.
itsawonderfilledlife 