SOCS: Who Do You Compare Yourself To?

Comparisons are my Achilles heel.

I constantly compare myself to others - physically - emotionally - professionally, and it is destructive.

Comparing myself to others often results in a "not good enough" conclusion  and lately I've found that my parenting is the comparison du jour.

Cam is in his junior year of high school. This is a time where parents often talk about ACT/SAT scores, what colleges their kids will be attending, how successful their kids will be. How well our kids do in school seems to be the primary way we measure ourselves as parents.

That's a broken barometer for anyone who has a child who struggles academically in school.

Cam will likely not take the ACT/SAT. He probably won't attend a 4-year university, in fact, it will be nothing short of a miracle if I can talk him into a 2-year college or trade school program.

I often feel I am measured far more on his perceived failures than I am on his successes.

At least I do when I compare myself to other parents.

I don't measure up.

His "failures" must be a result of my parenting.

It's the only logical conclusion ...

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (in the sidebar).
• Link up your post [HERE]
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

SSOC: Reading People

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It's time for Sunday's 5 minute Stream of Consciousness, oh my goodness I cannot use spell check or proofread post.

Jana's prompt this week? Wouldn’t it be awesome if… {fill in the blank}?

I've got a post in my head for Tuesday. This week I'm using Jana's prompt to get those thoughts out there where they'll be easier to sort.

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Wouldn’t it be awesome if… 

You could read people and know what they were really thinking, no matter what words come out of their mouth?

I've always been an "actions speak louder than words" kind of person, which works well for me in my personal relationships that are in my physical world (physical world equals the internet's reference to IRL).

It's more difficult with online relationships. All one really has are words to go by, and there are quite a few people out there who are amazing wordsmiths.

There's been a lot of talk this week about internet forums - those places where you can toss your opinion - anonymously - without repercussion. Where words can be said that you'd likely never say if your name was attached to them.

Honestly? I'd rather know. Can't stand me? I'd prefer you not appease me with your insincere words.

It's better that way. 

Then I don't waste too much energy on you.

~*~