Almost everything looks perfect from the outside until you discover what lies beneath. Nature is so perfect. I love to watch the rain so most times when it rains during the day, I stand out and watch as it pours. It’s so beautiful but yet again it can be dangerous. It pours so perfectly but all that beauty can be wiped out by just one stroke of thunder. The landslides that it sometimes brings along, the strong winds – it all tells me that something can appear so perfect but then you realise it’s not as perfect after all.
A few months ago a friend of mine told she wished she could have my life. To her, I was living the best life. I had no job at the time, I was broke, I was feeling so hopeless and helpless at the time but just because I wore this mask of happiness and comfort – she thought my life was perfect. I remember that day I sat back and recalled some of the times I wished I could be like some people, the times I envied someone for what they had, the times I hated my life and wished I could give it up for another – that moment I learnt to appreciate what I have and stop comparing my life to other people’s lives.
I remember back in high school there was this girl who was so brilliant, she spoke very nice English, she was so informed always participated in class, she was so kind hearted and loving, very beautiful and rumour had it she was from a rich family. Teachers liked her. She was the perfect student. Then one day she tells this story of how both her parents died and that she wished she could have just one more day with them. How she explained the huge gap she felt existed in her heart and how sad it made her feel just seeing other kids with their parents clearly showed that her life wasn’t so perfect after all. It was sad but also a wake-up call to those who wished they could be like her. Many a time we wish we were born in the families we think are perfect, we covet other people’s children, other people’s lives until we realise that we possess something special that they don’t have.
There are great insecurities that come with coveting and comparing our lives to the lives of other people that seem so perfect from the outside. Don’t rush to think someone else’s life is better than yours because they have chosen to hide their troubles behind a smile.
Live your life, appreciate what you are and what you have and focus on making yourself better because what you don’t have will always seem perfect from your perspective.
~ Paget Owembabazi
PIAGET WRITES 