Today we ask that you do not confuse yourself with other people.

This is one of the traps that egos so often fall into.

The ego looks at someone else.  Someone you know, someone you don’t know.  And it says: “That person has something you don’t have.  You should have what that person has.”

This is also known as “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.”

A lot of unnecessary suffering arises from this phenomenon.  You look at other people and feel this sense of lack, because they appear to have something you do not.

Maybe they appear to be more successful in their careers, or make more money.  Maybe they have a good relationship or marriage.  Maybe they have a child.  Maybe their child is better-behaved than your child.  Maybe they have a bigger house, a nicer car.  Maybe they have more free time.  Maybe they have better health.  It is endless, all the ways in which egos compare themselves to other egos, and find themselves lacking.

It is a terrible, misery-creating thing.  For always life is not good enough.  Someone is better off than you, and you can’t stand it.

You cannot find inner peace until you let go of this completely.

You cannot be someone else.  You cannot have someone else’s life.

The life you are living, right now, is the perfect life for you.

Moreover, everyone deals with challenges and struggles.  You cannot really know what someone else’s life is truly like.  All you know is your own fantasy, your projection about that other person.  That is why the grass always seems greener somewhere else.  It is an illusion.

Sometimes it is even harder to love and embrace your own individual life, because well-meaning, but misguided people tell you that your life really is lacking, and should be different and better.

If you are single, how often do well-meaning friends want to “set you up” in a relationship?

If you are in a relationship but have no children, how often do well-meaning people insist that you should have a child, for your life to be complete?

If you are non-religious, but have religious friends, how often do these people insist that you must have religion in your life, for your life to be complete?

This is very common.

Such people mean well, but they are very misguided.

What works in your life will not necessarily work in someone else’s.

Parents often make this error, by attempting to impose their choices and values on children who might be totally unsuited to them.

Everyone is different.  No two humans are alike.

What is good for someone else might not be good for you.

And what is good for you might be terrible for someone else.

Knowing this is very wise.  Neither crave someone else’s life, nor try to convince someone else that they ought to have yours.

Just be yourself.  Love the grass you’re standing on.  Then you will find peace.