“We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that’s who we are. We mistake the openness of our being — the inherent wonder and surprise of each moment — for a solid, irrefutable self. Because of this misunderstanding, we suffer.”

We are all guilty of this: exaggerating and belittling ourselves and telling ourselves that in fact that is who we are. It is the work of the ego and it is rooted in constant self-comparison. While the “self” requires a healthy ego, we need reminding just to be open to the being and mystery of life itself. Strip it all away and that is the Someone we are.

How can meditation or small acts of mindfulness help you escape the tyranny of constant self-comparison?