So I wonder...

I've often thought that we all compare ourselves to others...to check in and see how we're doing compared to somebody else...and then if they are doing significantly better we feel lousy...here's an excerpt from a blog I follow...and it proves my point that comparing yourself to others is just pointless and a waste of time...

I’m 21 years old and I’m a successful student and I have a scholarship at a university. One of the things I enjoy doing is reading about people who have contributed greatly to science and math. Sometimes after reading long enough I come across a man who is in his mid 20s and made a huge contribution to what was known at that time to science. After reading such articles I feel proud of them. They were so young yet they were smart enough to formulate a thesis or invent something that changed the world. But then new thoughts pop into my mind. “Why am I not as good as they were?” “What made them so good?” “What do they have that I don’t?” And literally after a few minutes, I’m down, confused, and depressed.
So my question is this- any advice on how to deal with this? How not to compare myself to geniuses and how to overcome feelings of worthlessness and helplessness?"

See...if you start doing that in your 20s you will never feel like you've caught up...or never feel like anything you do is worthwhile compared to what others are doing. The secret that you don't know is that perhaps this person has been a science geek master since 8 years old...so by his 20s he's already had several  years experience in this field. It's like comparing yourself to a master painter when you're just learning to draw...of course you'd feel overwhelmed and sad..and feel like you're never going to get to that level. What you don't see is all those years and very bad paintings that Monet threw away as trash. I don't think anybody  sits down one day and becomes an expert or genius in any field.  But for some perverse reason we always want to compare our baby efforts to a master or genius and then make ourselves feel bad.

I think the best advice I've ever seen on this subject comes from a humble bumper sticker that I saw recently...it said...."If the grass is always greener on the other side, water  your own grass more." So true...instead of bemoaing the fact that somebody else looks better...can do something better or whatever...focus that energy on what you can do for yourself that will improve what you are interested in or trying to do.