Compare and Contrast

No, this isn't a examination question. Not those 'distinguish between' questions which we do sometimes abhor when we do not have pointers to sieve out differences. Compare and contrast takes place outside the academic realm, be it or not we are poor in having sufficient resources to go about it. 

Indeed it comes without surprise that humans being social creatures, we always assess ourselves in someways to ascertain our individual worth and performance. We link all these to our own self-esteem, and also how we perceive ourselves to be effective in accomplishing tasks in life - self-efficacy. It has become a tool so subconscious that we are often warned against its inherent downsides of the never-ending comparative game. If you always compare your performance against the better, you will seem inferior. If you always contrast yourself with higher expectations of others, you will never be satisfied. Well, definitely the other way of comparing also warrants mentioning - comparing with someone inferior to u. Yes we sometimes do so as a self-defense mechanism - to ward off our sense of disappointment or guilt when we have failed to perform up to standards. Self-consolation. This makes us feel better.

Besides the relative assessment function of compare and contrast, what may be more subtle in the entire schema is the creation or emergence/awareness of the two end states which we compare with. Disappointment in failing your exams vs dejectedness when your relationship fail. Elation when you know your friend is coming over for summer vs Euphoria when you struck lottery. We have all these 'grades' or 'levels' of benchmarks created as modes for comparison within us. We do not always compare ourselves with others. More importantly, when we take ourselves as the barometer (which we do not so often), we open up ourselves to a greater platform for growth and development. 

There are a couple of ways which we can harness this internal comparative function as a springboard. Contrasting happiness felt today vs disappointment yesterday makes you feel the difference and magnifies your sense of elation. Explained in another way, that you feel 'much' happier today because you are reminded of the downtimes which have passed you and now 'things are so different'. Well of course, this may not be the biggest cause of your happiness - i mean we must give happiness its due credit to exist for a positive reason, of which it has its own capacity to generate feelings of pleasure. But these 'labels' in us do accentuate the difference.

In addition, it bequeaths us with the gift to appreciate and savor. Happy today, Happier tomorrow. We can appreciate why we are made more happier. Failed a dozen times, getting it right the final time - we certainly know how to savour this great feat of accomplishment. We compare how we manage to achieve results in other domains of our lives vis a vis how we are doing now and start motivating ourselves through perhaps understanding the value of determination. 

We are made many the wiser when we know how to compare against our own internal benchmarks, as opposed to the people around us, whose standards may bear little or no meaning in the context of ours. Comparing with others is often a great human temptation to overcome. It provides the most convenient form of assessment to know where we stand, to get a quick gauge, or rather the 'short-cut'/easy way out. It is not necessarily accurate and is not able to stand on its own as a conclusion to your performance.