Hi, friends! It’s time for another rendition of me dumping all the contents of my brain onto this little platform of mine! For today’s post, I wanted to talk about two things: this outfit + the comparison game.
Let’s dive right in!
The weather has finally decided to cooperate, so my t-shirt-dress-loving self is pumped! Believe it or not, I used to hate t-shirt dresses. I thought they were unflattering and boring. Well, that changed when I found this dress.
I showcased this same t-shirt dress in burnt orange on my Instagram. I loved it so much I had to buy it in another color. First time I’ve ever done that!
Let’s talk about the fit of this dress. I’m really tall, so I tend to have issues with things being way too short. I bought this one size bigger to prevent that. It’s definitely more roomie, so adding a belt of some kind was a necessity. I have a western-inspired belt I wear all the time with jeans, but it didn’t look right with this.
So, I went back to the drawing board. I had a little a-ha moment when I realized I have a bunch of hair scarves I haven’t worn in a while. Time to turn one into a belt! The idea worked out much better than I initially anticipated, and that’s my favorite part about styling myself!
When it comes to styling other people, sometimes my choices are a little safer because I’m not sure how bold they want to be. For me, I’m always willing to try crazy combinations to see if it could become a universal trend. The hair scarf as a belt was a trial run, but I seriously think it’s perfect to experiment with this summer!
I’m going to reroute this blog post to quickly chat about something else that’s been on my mind recently: the comparison game. I feel like it’s something that’s always existed in my life, but as I’ve started to share more of my life on social media, it’s become more of a regularity.
It can be so hard not to compare yourself to other people. I totally get it — I’ve been there; we’ve all been there! For me, my blogging game has had a lot of hurdles that I sometimes feel I just can’t get over. I’ve been wishing for more time to dedicate to my blog to really launch it, but that just hasn’t happened!
I’m all about making things happen versus waiting for them, but in my case, I feel like waiting is kind of what I have to do — which is really hard for me to be okay with. That’s where my comparison game spawns from.
Of course I wish I could be making money from my blog, but I’m not there yet. Having two other jobs is kind of a necessity for me at this moment in my life. I’m slowly learning to be okay with that! I like being busy, but sometimes it can get to me when I start comparing my schedule or timeline to others.
Why do we compare ourselves to others when we’re all at different stages in our lives — on totally different paths with different ambitions?
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Your life, my life, the person next to you’s life: they are inherently different. That’s what makes us one-of-a-kind. Our timelines vary. Our goals don’t align. We don’t live the same life.
So why do we still continue to compare?
When it comes down to it, I’m just trying to live my life in the fullest way, by doing things I want, and accepting that time won’t always be on my side.
I know it sounds corny, but I’m a universe-lover and I really do think that there’s a time and place for everything. Maybe your big break won’t happen for five years, or maybe you won’t be able to turn your side hustle into a full-time gig for another year. So what? You may not be able to control time, but you can control how you react to it!
Instead of comparing myself to others, I’m comparing myself to me, if that makes sense. Taking a moment to look at how far I’ve come over the past few years has been helpful in accomplishing that.
Sometimes I feel like I’m just flooring it through life without looking back. But looking back isn’t all that bad and I don’t know why people peg it out to be that way. You learn from your past endeavors, so why not compare them to where you are now and make a game plan for the future. That’s what I’m trying to do!
I may not know exactly what I’m going to be doing a year from now, but I have no worries in my mind that I’ll be continuing to do the things that I love in some capacity.
“The reason why we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
-Steven Furtick
Screenshot this quote, write it down in your notes or plaster it on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. Whatever you do, don’t forget it when you start comparing yourself to others. Just live your life the way you want to live it. Things will work out for you, just give it some time!
Alicia