Comparison... Good or Bad?

So you know the old saying that goes something like, "You should never compare yourself to anyone else?"  I'm always telling my kids something like this.  I was thinking about this today, possibly because it was right on the heels of my son getting his MSP test results.  You know, you might say this all the time, but really how will you know how well you do at anything if you don't compare and contrast yourself with others?  What becomes your measuring stick if you don't have any perspective?

My mother is in the hospital now, so she has been in my thoughts a lot this week.  I was thinking how extraordinary she really was when I was younger.  Although, at the time she was just my annoying mother who never let me do anything.  We fought so often I can hardly think of a time in high school when we weren't fighting.  That is beside the point.  It is not until I am the adult that I am today that I realize all the amazing things she did.  It is with my perspective and the person who I am today in comparison (and contrast) with my mother, that I really begin to appreciate the person that she once was.

In appreciation of my mother I have to say that sometimes comparison is a good thing.  What do you say?  (Because I would like to compare answers...)

What would your super power be?

 

There is that classic question, "Would you rather have super powers that would let you fly or become invisible?"  My husband said that it was a stupid question, because of course the answer would be to fly.  I replied that I would choose invisibility, because at least that would have practical uses (if you were a spy.)  Having the power to fly can't take you anywhere that something else can't also do.  Maybe you get there quicker.  My thing is that I really don't do heights, so why would I want to fly.  But maybe if I could fly I would no longer be afraid of heights.  Hmmm.

I had always thought if I could have a super power I would like to be able to make traffic lights turn green for me or find a good parking space.  At least those things are practical.  But today something occurred to me to change my mind.

I was at the library and wishfully checked out several books.  I say wishfully, because the reality is that I probably won't even start reading them before they are due back at the library.  The ones I do start I will probably not have time to finish.  I frequently read more than one book at a time (just about one for each room of the house that I hang out in) and it can sometimes take me more than a year to finish one book.

I wish I had more time to read, but also the slowness of getting through a book is because I do read really slowly.  I don't enjoy reading a book faster than I can hear the words in my head.  I took a speed reading course once in college.  So I know that I can read for information quickly and occasionally I will try and do it, but it hurts my eyes and takes a lot of effort to do.  I have fallen to listening to audio books, because I can do that while I'm doing housework.

All that aside, I realized today what I would really love to be my super power.  I looked at all these books on the shelf and would have picked out a dozen (I only got three.)  I thought to myself as I looked at the covers (front and back) of these books, "What is your story?"  I really wanted to know the story of those books, but I knew I would never have the time to find them out.  I would love to have the ability to touch a book and immediately know it's story if I chose to.  That would be my super power.  What would you want your super power to be?