The infamous excerpt from Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” was spot-on in his day and age. And it is even more relevant in today’s social media-frenzied world:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

This back-and-forth melodrama is representative of the trap that our natural tendency to compare provides. When our primary focus is on others’ social media feeds or in trying to best craft our own to impress others, we become short-sighted.

Our limited view becomes, “The grass is always greener …” for somebody else; meanwhile, we simply feel the pain and pitfalls of life.

Neither view is completely accurate. Neither view is healthy. And neither view is fully honoring God.

It is said that, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

My challenge to you today is to: Begin daily journaling things that you are grateful for — even if you don’t fully recognize them at the moment. Things like: being able to see the sunshine, being able to communicate with friends and family via technology, simply breathing.

When you start to uncover the little blessings of life, you’ll begin to realize life all around you, and you won’t have time to compare your life with others.

Athlete, you are blessed. Start realizing it and start living it.