Can We Stop Comparing?

     Comparison is deadly because it’s never apples to apples.
     Take my friend Nancy. We hadn’t seen each other for decades when she rolled into town. Nancy asked about my writing.
​     “Some books and articles,” I told her.
     She shrugged. “All I’ve done is care for my family.”
     That’s all? Let me tell you what Nancy had just shared. For eight years, she oversaw cancer treatments for her adult son Bryce. They even relocated to Germany twice for surgery with a specialist.
     Now at age thirty, Bryce still has twenty-five tumors in his lungs, but his health is stable. At six foot two inches and 142 pounds, his strength isn’t back yet. But he has enough spirit to clown around in costumes with his mother.
     One day during Bryce’s illness, Nancy’s husband looked up from trying to balance his checkbook. “I need help,” he said.
     Alzheimers.
     Nancy cared for her husband for five years until he passed away.
     Last year - finally - it was time to celebrate. Bryce completed his graphic arts and communication degree. And Nancy remarried “a wonderful man.”
     Nancy’s example reminds me that we dare not compare ourselves to others because we have our own role to play in life’s drama. As the International Thespian Society tells its performing arts members: “Act well your part; there all the honor lies.”
     So what’s your part?

My friend Nancy - she's a gem.