The Comparison Game: How I Finally Quit Playing

Comparison will always try to creep in, but you get to decide if you’ll play the game.

How I Stopped Comparing Myself

Comparison has always found new ways to creep into my life. In my 20s in New York, it was body image. Everyone was chasing the “perfect” look: the perfect workout body, the perfect outfit, the perfect brunch photo. Instagram was still new, and I was all in. I thought if I could just look flawless online, I’d feel flawless inside. Instead, it ate me alive. The endless cycle of looking, posting, spiraling, repeating. None of it made me feel real. Not to mention, the Facetune obsession! Glad those days are over.

When I moved to LA, I thought I’d finally left that behind. And in some ways, I had. But LA has its own pressures. The city has a reputation for being fake and obsessed with beauty, and honestly, it’s not wrong. Here, the chase isn’t always about being thinner, it’s about being younger or just looking “better.” I’d catch myself staring in the mirror wishing I looked like my face with the beauty filter on. My mind would constantly tell me: maybe you should “fix” this, smooth that, do something. And even though I haven’t gone down that road (minus botox every 6 months), just thinking those thoughts made me realize how sneaky comparison is.