Comparison Game

An Easter egg hunt at work yesterday taught me a real life lesson - and that wasn't even the intent.

We had our monthly staff meeting at 2, and at the end, our CEO announced that there were Easter eggs hidden in the lobby, and that we could each take one. He said we could open them up and see which one was the one we wanted.

I expected them to be filled with candy. I opened one up to make sure it had nutless candy that I would like, and it did. So I was happy. First egg I got had good candy in it. What a wonderful game!

Then my boss opened hers up. It also had candy - and cash. And another co-worker near me got a gift card to the Fireside Cafe at Group. All of a sudden those ugly seeds of jealousy started churning in me. How come they got money and all I got was a couple lousy chocolate bars?

It's funny how comparing ourselves to others can rob us of our joy. If I never saw or heard what anyone else got in their eggs, I would have remained blissfully happy with my chocolate. It was exactly what I'd hoped for. But as soon as I started comparing my treasure with others, I decided it didn't measure up.

Good rarely comes out of comparing what we have to what others have, be it money, possessions, friends, looks, talent, success, or the contents of a plastic egg.