[Ecohoon] The Trap of Comparison

I may be writing this because I possess something, something more than others. However, I am also someone who lacks compared to others. Therefore, I want to leave my thoughts on "comparison".

I'm not sure if this is true for everyone around the world, but Korean society, in particular, engages in a lot of comparison. I must have more than you. So, as the old saying goes, \"It's upsetting when your cousin buys land,\" we constantly compare ourselves to others and believe we must possess more than them.

In Western societies, generally speaking, one's own thoughts, life, and happiness are more important than comparisons with others. The measure of that happiness does not come from comparison with others. It seems they find and obtain happiness in their current situation and life with their family. We often see happiness stemming from money. Ultimately, the concept of land is also capital.

\"A better car than others, a bigger car, a bigger house, flashy clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. Also, that friend works at a large company, their salary is this much, the neighbor's son works at that company... but our family, our son, my life, my bank account, my house, my car... it's only this much.\"

These are the thoughts and complaints we're having right now. I'm worried about how long we will continue these comparisons. Even I, who am writing this, am making these complaints today. I want to escape.

The strange thing is, we always compare ourselves only to those who are economically better off than us. We don't often compare ourselves to those who are less fortunate. We don't think about the lives of those who don't have much, those who are dying of starvation in Africa or North Korea, for example. They are also human beings like us; they just happened to be born in difficult countries like Africa or North Korea, not Korea.

If we compare our lives to theirs, we can't help but be grateful for our lives. Do they have a Mercedes Benz? A 32-pyeong apartment? A title at Samsung or SK? They are worried and suffering because they don't have even a single grain of rice to eat today.

Using comparison to improve and grow is excellent. However, we must be careful that this comparison does not exceed acceptable limits and lead to frustration, despair, greed, avarice, theft, blame, or crime.

Even if I don't have many followers, many people don't know my writing, and my performance is not good, I hope that a positive culture of gratitude for the present, rising through that gratitude, and sharing what we have will spread.