Selfies

Taking selfies in Uganda is a pretty big thing. The kids LOVE to have their pictures made. They will gather around you in large masses, smile huge smiles, and as soon as you snap the pic, they want you to turn your phone around so that they can see. The interesting thing is the difference between their looking at the selfies and our inability to do it in the same way.

They are happy with the picture, period.

They aren’t zooming in, analyzing whether their hair is “perfect” or out of place, whether or not their hips or stomach look too big, if their smile is “just right” . . . they are perfectly content to just be in the picture. They accept themselves as they are and within that acceptance they find such joy.

What could our lives be like if we did the same thing?

What if we take the first selfie, look at it with such joy, and think,”Wow! I am SO LUCKY to be me – I don’t need to be like anyone else!”

We could let go of the comparison trap we often find ourselves in. And we will find perfect peace!

We compare ourselves by appearance, performance, possessions, and circumstances.

What do we look like compared to others? Thinner? Chubbier? Buffer? Balder? Fitter? How are we competitively in school or in our jobs compared to our colleagues and peers? Is “our stuff” just as good as our neighbors? Do we have the best? The newest? The most? Are lives at the place where they need to be based on some unspoken societal standard?

Those are questions that we tend to think of as we go through our life’s journey.

What if today instead of thinking “What if I had or were like” we start thinking, “Wow – I am so grateful I am me.”

2 Corinthians 10:12 New International Version (NIV)

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.