MISERY LOVES COMPANY...

Gist o’clock!

So I’ve been writing exams for a while now, and I kid you not, it hasn’t been easy. At some point, I found myself questioning what I’m even doing here. But no, we do not give up, lol.

Anyways, something happened.

There was this particular day, the paper was bad. Horrible kind of bad, you get? And afterwards, I beat myself over it terribly. I literally cried myself to sleep and did all those dramatic shenanigans.

Then there was another paper that was equally as bad, but this time, I left the hall completely normal. A little sad about the unexpected turn of events, yes, but normal.

So what happened?

Why did I cry over one and not the other, when it was basically the same scenario?

Here’s what I discovered.

Sometimes we don’t feel bad because we didn’t do well, but because in comparison to others, we didn’t do well.

That first time, when I came out of the hall, everyone was happy and relieved because the exam had been easy. And that was what broke me. That was what made me cry.

But the second time, the exam was literally impossible. Everyone came out with long, angry faces, and omor, if I’m being honest, it was comforting.

The idea that it’s not only you that is an olodo.

And let’s be real, it is often said that misery loves company.

We do this silly thing of measuring ourselves by the outcome of others, and my dear, that is a very pitiful way to live. Because by doing so, we don’t accurately measure the extent of our effort on a real touchstone. Instead, we measure it using something as fleeting and unreliable as someone else’s result.

Dearest reader, I know you must be wondering what the point of these two stories is.

It is simple.

If you must measure yourself, if you must beat yourself up over how poorly you performed or how bad you did, let it be based on what is right and what is not. Let it be based on your own truth, your own effort, your own standard.

May it never be based on the results of someone else.

Because misery loves company, and there is only false comfort in that company, until reality wakes you up sharply, not long after.

Shalom

@favvy_Okwans🖤.