The Culture of Comparison and the Bamboo Tree
Shariq Ali
Valueversity
It is 11 o’clock at night, and a university student is sitting in his room, using his mobile phone. On LinkedIn, he sees a friend’s announcement about a new job. On Instagram, photos appear from a class fellow’s trip to Europe. On YouTube, he comes across a video by a 22-year-old titled, “How I Made My First Million.”
A few minutes later, he quietly turns off his phone. He feels as if he has been left far behind in life.
This feeling is now growing inside millions of young people.
Psychologists tell us that human beings naturally compare themselves with others. Leon Festinger described this in 1954 as the Social Comparison Theory. People begin to measure their success, beauty, and abilities by other people’s standards.
The only difference is that in the past, we compared ourselves with a few people from our neighbourhood, class, or family. Today, social media makes us compete with the world’s best edited moments.
On Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, people show their successes more than their failures. We do not see someone’s five years of struggle; we only see their graduation photo, new car, or vacation reel.
For example, we see Cristiano Ronaldo’s success, but not the thousands of unknown footballers who failed.
Similarly, we see Mark Zuckerberg’s billion-dollar company, but not the stories of thousands of failed start-ups.
Constant comparison can increase anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression among young people.
The most important question is not where someone else has reached. The real question is:
Are you better today than you were yesterday?
Trust your own pace. Every human being’s clock moves at a different speed.
Some trees grow quickly within a few months, while the bamboo tree spends years silently strengthening its roots beneath the soil. Then, when its time comes, it suddenly begins to rise rapidly.
Perhaps your roots are still becoming stronger. Your time will also come. Keep moving step by step at your own pace, without constantly looking at others.