When we look at birds, we don’t wonder why the crow doesn’t fly south like the goose or ask why a hummingbird is happy sipping from the flowers rather than hunting for a squirrel like a hawk.

Do you expect them to all behave the same way? Do you expect the tiny chickadee to get his act together and compete with the eagles and falcons for command of the sky?

Of course not. If you are like me, you clearly see that some of the birds have talons while others have webbed feet. Some have beaks designed for cracking seeds, and others have bills designed to munch on the grass.

Each species of bird can only do what they can do.

They don’t try to emulate or compete with other birds.

And, that’s how I’ve started to look at humanity. We are not all the same.

My realization came as I was looking at a picture of a billionaire in a magazine. We are about the same age, but nothing about him is like me. I could feel the enormous difference in our life’s trajectory. Maybe we both started from poor families and had to struggle to get to where we each are today. But what drove him isn’t what drove me.

I’m not judging his choices or situation – or mine. Unfortunately, it’s something we frequently do with other people.

When we compare ourselves to others, we are comparing what they show on the outside to what we are feeling on the inside.

The things he was attracted to were not what I was attracted to. He made very different choices along his life than I did.

Each of our choices was not made at the spur of the moment but was made from where each of us was at a particular point in time. Each of those choices built upon on the other and over time brought us to where we are today.

Could I have achieved what he achieved?

Maybe. Is that what I wanted to achieve? Nope.

I focused on different things. I have different skills and interests. To compare us is like comparing the wren to the ostrich.

We are each unique as individuals and are special in our own way.

Neither bird is better, just different and unique. And it is the same for us as people, we are each unique and different.

Remember that the next time you find yourself making a comparison to someone else…