I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kay Wills Wyma. She is the author of I’m Happy for You (Sort of…Not Really!) Being a MOAT (mother of adolescents and teenagers) Kay started her blogging journey to help parents deal with entitlement when raising their kids.
When I had a chance to read the book it was like Kay wrote the book specifically for me! Since so much of my work is engulfed with being on social media so much, it’s so easy to get caught up in comparing myself. There have been days when I’m like “Why did that person get the campaign” or “Why don’t my kids excel at sports like their kids”…blah blah blah. Just a bunch of negative self-talk.
We laughed and talked about some of the funny stories that she shared in her book and I admitted how one can get so caught up with comparing themselves since social media is so in our faces now. Kay said “Catch yourself in the moment. Don’t get caught up in comparison. Be inspired! Step outside the moment and realize how amazing things are. Remember we don’t know what all is going on in someone’s life.”
So many times we get caught up with trying to keep up with the Jones’. Who has the biggest house, the best car, kids going to the best school…the list just goes on and on. I sometimes have to stop myself, take a step back and remember that I can’t base my happiness or others by snippets of pictures that they share on social media. No one typically shares the bad stuff on social media so we just see a glimpse of the filtered life that people lead. And sometimes I’ve had to remind myself that envy is not good and can consume you and make you feel like you’re not good enough.
The book also touches on issues and how to find contentment with who we are and I can say for myself it’s such a wonderful feeling when I let go of comparing myself to others. The following quote from the book is something that really hit home for me and was almost like a light bulb moment for me: “Contentment comes when we choose to see the immeasurable, incomparable beauty of each human, including the one in the mirror”.
Now when I tell someone that I’m happy for them, I’m truly happy for them! I don’t use those words lightly and realize how amazing people feel when share in their joy and really mean it. When doubt and envy try to rear its ugly head I usually try to recite a few positive sayings to keep me on track. One of my favorites is “There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy.” – Lope de Vega
If you would like to get your own copy of the book you can find it on Amazon. Kay also wrote another book called Cleaning House and she has been featured on and written for several media outlets. A few of those are CNN and The TODAY Show. She currently resides in Dallas with her husband and 5 children.
*I was provided with a copy of the book for review. All opinion expressed are my own.*
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