The Comparison Game - Happy Hour Style
Today is the last Friday of the month and in case you are new to this blog or my podcast, on the last Friday of the month, I host a happy hour on my podcast where the happy hour ladies and I talk about various money topics while drinking cheap drinks! Today, we are talking about the comparison or jealousy game.As I wrote about on Monday, I feel as though we all are susceptible to the influences of the jealousy game whether we like them or not, but what's important is not avoiding jealousy entirely but how we manage it. Despite the fact that many people may think the four of us have nothing to worry about, we all struggle with comparing ourselves to other people and in this episode we share the ups and downs of these emotions.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Melanie from Dear Debt — a New Belgium Side Trip
Tonya from Budget and the Beach — a Synergy Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha spiked w/ vodka
Mrs. Frugalwoods from Frugalwoods.com — White wine while Babywoods is in bed
Shannon — a Dirty Gin Martini shaken by her husband
PODCAST NOTES
Frugalwoods wrote a post about her experience with the jealousy game.
Social media definitely compounds the issues because it shows everyone’s “highlight reel.”
Tonya quit Facebook for the most part and wrote a post about it.
Shannon saw something on Facebook a couple of months ago and had to have Melanie talk her down from the negativity she started to feel.
Melanie still struggles with the comparison game even though she is now the person she used to be jealous of because she is now comparing herself to those who have more.
Managing the comparison game relies on the balance of you being happy with where you are at the moment but also continuing to push yourself to get to the next level.
Practicing gratitude helps you keep perspective of your own journey.
Regardless of your situation, you have to acknowledge how people might perceive your message that you post on social media.
Your journey with the jealousy game is completely different from someone else’s journey.
Tonya says even though she doesn’t have as much traffic on her blog, she loves the community she does have.
Tonya despises the feeling that you have to share everything on social media to feel validated.
Mrs. Frugalwoods says finding peace in the present is a way to stop yourself from following the comparison journey.
Shannon said the jealousy she felt before distracted her from her own goals and journey.
She called for help to bring her new perspective about the situation and that helped her to let go of the jealousy she was feeling.
Shannon says she likes calling out the Happy Hour ladies about different things on the show to help her listeners see they are no different from them.
TIPS FOR DEALING WITH THE COMPARISON/JEALOUSY GAME
Practicing gratitude—being happy with everything you have now—and writing those things down help to put things in perspective. (Melanie)
Run your own race and don’t worry about anyone else’s. (Melanie/Shannon's hubby)
Let yourself be inspired by where other people are in their journey but don’t let it consume it. (Melanie)
Realize that everyone goes through this at one point or another. (Mrs. Frugalwoods)
If you can’t shut off how you are feeling, take a break from social media or anything else that ignites jealousy in you. (Tonya)
Keep perspective of where you are, where you’ve come from, and where you are going because it is easy to get fixated on your own insecurities and shortcomings and lose sight of your journey. (Shannon)