Can you compare a fish with a dinosaur or a tailor with a ballet dancer? According to Albert Einstein:
Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Comparing people seems to be ingrained in us but is it really? You can make efforts and not fall into that manhole. It is more necessary because by comparing you are causing harm to your child.
Here are five reasons why comparison is not good your child:-
Creates Discontentment
While comparing your child to someone else, the message that you give the child is: “What someone else is or has is better than what you have.” The child will keep looking forward to possess what the other person has. When it comes to his achievements, the child will always be unhappy with them.
Over time, this will become an ingrained attitude in the child; he will develop a discontented outlook in life. The child should be taught to be happy with whatever he or she has.
Creates Ungratefulness
The child should be taught to recognize whatever he or she is. She should be taught to be grateful to the people around her. Gratefulness improves inter-personal relationships. She should be taught to be thankful to life. This will make her happier and more peaceful in her life too. It will help her develop a humble attitude.
Creates Less or More Thinking
If you are continuously telling the child what the other person is is better, the child will keep thinking less of himself. He will have less confidence in his abilities and even think of himself as nobody important. It could take the shape of an inferiority complex.
If, on the other hand, you are telling the child that the she is better than others, the child will become contemptuous of others and arrogant. Alternatively, the child could have a superiority complex.
It is Baseless!
The fish cannot be expected to climb the tree. Likewise, every situation is different. If the child starts doing something because it has worked for someone else, then he is doomed to failure.
Every person has a different life path. Teach your child to embrace his or her own life and circumstances the way they are. He should be taught to take actions and make decisions based on his own situation in life.
A Loss of Uniqueness
If you are comparing your child with others, it is highly probable that the child loses his self-belief. The child could keep trying to imitate other people: the way they behave, the way they dress up or the things that they do.
Consequently, the child will not be able to develop a healthy self-identity. The unique personality of the child will be suppressed. You should tell you child that no two people are alike just like no two fingerprints are alike!
Give the present of a happy and contented life by neither comparing him with others nor by letting him compare!
