6 words that changed by perspective on life

Confession: I am about the most competitive person that you will ever meet. My brain is hardwired to perceive ordinary daily tasks as a competition. Folding the laundry? I bet that I can do it in under 20 minutes. Grocery shopping? I bet I can get it done for under $100.

This is my life. I am painfully Type-A and make no apologies for it. This is the way God made me.

Being painfully Type-A has severed me well. I am good at walking into a room, identifying my “competition” and use them as my pace car. Sometimes, I use myself as my competition (hence my ridiculous laundry ritual).

There have been times, however, where being Type-A has led me to a dark place – a place where I get jealous when others accomplish something I have not been able to.

It is no secret that I am a HUGE Amy Poehler fan (in fact, I was even featured on the homepage of her website and Instagram a while back, don’t believe me? look at that neurotic girl in the headline photo). In Amy’s book, Yes, Please, she encourages her readers to adopt the motto “Good for her, not for me!”

Good for her, not for me!

Amy Poehler

The meaning behind this motto is simple. Someone else’s victory isn’t your loss. Let me say that again for those of you in the cheap seats. Someone else’s victory is NOT your loss.

Y’all when I say that this phrase changed my view of the world, I am not kidding. Life is hard enough without complicating it with pointless jealously. Am I still working on this? Absolutely! But, I think that I am getting better.

It is ok to be painfully Type-A. It’s ok to love lists, and office supplies, and planning things. And, it’s more than ok to set goals for yourself and be proud when you achieve them (in fact, if you don’t have a goal, stop what you are doing right now and write down a goal that you want to accomplish for today, this week, this month, and this year). What’s not ok? To get angry or be jealous when someone else is accomplishing their goals and dreams.

We are all on different paths, and we are all in different seasons. Don’t get hung up on someone else’s season. You have no idea what they went through to get there.