Stop stalking the Joneses

Hey guys, good news!  I’ve met the Joneses and they told me it was never a race in the first place and to stop following them.  Seriously, they live a few doors down, are all about their family and don’t seem to be looking around for ways to be better than the rest of us.

I think trying to keep up with the Joneses happens when we do that ugly thing called comparing. It can start out innocently enough just noticing someone’s fancy house, new car, clothes, accessories, hair, body, career, vacation, social media posts…you name it. But sometimes noticing turns into wanting or jealousy instead of an observation.

I see it happening around me with kids in elementary school all the way to adults who should know better.  There’s this pressure to get the “thing” because the “thing” brings with it all life’s happiness and contentment.

Insert screeching record player noise here.

THE “THING” HAS NO MAGICAL POWERS TO CHANGE ANYTHING, YOU GUYS.

And therein lies the rub. Because it brings only a temporary feeling of having arrived, yet becomes a reminder that we still fell short. Even though, even though.

So let’s stop the self-sabotage and try self-acceptance and turn the focus inward, to what really matters. Now make a list of what really matters to you. Not to stress you out, but this is a test. How long is your list?  

It should be super short. Besides humans, there shouldn’t be anything else on your list that you can physically touch…because it doesn’t MATTER.     

People matter, relationships matter, believing in something bigger than yourself matters. Kindness and love matters and the way we treat people matters.

The Joneses matter. Their stuff does not. So back to the Joneses…the ones on my street. Like I said, they are all about their family. Just imagine if we tried to keep up with them in that regard? 

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