Posts Tagged ‘greater’

The Gift

January 27, 2008

It’s natural to struggle with that sense of we don’t measure up, especially when we compare ourselves to another. We’re always checking ourselves for how do we look or think or succeed, compared to someone else. Are we as smart? Or pretty? Are we as good a parent? And of course there are the times someone else is trying to make us feel inferior with all their bragging and strutting. Adults can usually regain perspective with lines like, “it’s what’s inside that counts” or “we’re all equal” or that line from the Desiderata: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” These did little though, to comfort a six-year-old boy many years ago. Such lofty abtracts just don’t mean much to the six-year-old brain. They require something plainer, more direct, tangible, not to mention shorter. So I share with you the 8-word bit of wisdom we taught to our son, that in a funny way even works to comfort adults. When feeling like you don’t measure up, or someone is trying to make you feel that way, just remember: “We all taste the same to the worms.” At least for six-year-olds, it did the trick.