Find Your Extraordinary by Jessica Herrin

Author:Jessica Herrin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241250938
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2016-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

“Comparison is the Thief of Joy”

It was Theodore Roosevelt who had the insight: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” He was right. Comparison does steal joy—and it can also rob you of your self-confidence, if you let it.

I was once invited to speak on a panel at Fortune’s “The Most Powerful Women” conference, moderated by Rosie O’Donnell and featuring other entrepreneurs, including Tyra Banks, the supermodel-turned-businesswoman. Since my dad lived nearby, I asked him to join me. It was a proud father moment, for sure, as my dad watched from the audience.

After the panel discussion, the participants filed offstage and Fortune had a photographer waiting to snap our photos. My dad rushed over to me while I waited in the line. You need to know, Larry is very hard of hearing. “You were excellent! Now, of course, I couldn’t hear a word you were saying! But I could just tell you were great!” The crowd could have been throwing rotten tomatoes at me—and he would still have thought I was fantastic. Who knows if I was actually great, but feeling unconditional love makes everyone feel great.

Then it was my turn to get my picture taken. I smiled for the camera. The photographer kept looking into the screen on the back of his camera and shaking his head, like he was trying to shake off a bad pitch.

Finally, in exasperation, he said to me, “No, not like that, pose like this!” He turned his camera around and showed me the pictures he had taken of the person right before me—Tyra Banks. He flipped our photos back and forth, saying, “See, this is you. This is Tyra. This is you, this is Tyra.”

I looked at the pictures and instantly went from cloud nine to hideous trolldom. No regular woman should be put into an A/B eye exam flip test with a supermodel.

But then my mind went back to my father and what he saw in me that day when he was looking up at me from the audience. I was great! I just started laughing and put my hand on the photographer’s shoulder and said, “Sir, get a hold of yourself! That woman is a supermodel. The pictures of me are what they are.” But no wonder I began making plans to start a skincare line after that!

Joking aside, compared to the supermodel, I was horrendous. But when I saw myself through the eyes of my father, I felt great about myself.

Yes, there are people who have more and better—better education, connections, experience, beauty, brains, height, weight, talent. But there are also multitudes of people who have less and still are successful and happy. Be inspired by the greatness in others, but don’t let noticing it lessen your appreciation for what you have or make you feel less.

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