Lessons in Comparison
By Amanda Rae
When we compare ourselves to others, we are robbing ourselves of what has been given to us.
This past weekend I attended a mini psychic fair with a dear friend of mine. I was excited to get a reading with one of the local mediums. On my way there, I decided to have a chat with God and Spirit. I asked that something new be revealed to me that I didn’t already know or understand. I asked specifically for it to be something that my heart needed to know. I wanted to be surprised, I wanted to have that magical mystical experience. I wanted to be inspired, or have that overwhelming feeling of loving support from those on the other side. I know how it feels to deliver the beautiful messages. I am blessed to be an intuitive and medium. This time, I wanted to be on the receiving end of it. I could hardly wait. I met my friend and we each signed up for something different. She went right in. I stood waiting patiently, oh so patiently, by a wall that displayed posters of the featured psychics, intuitives, astrologists and mediums that were there that day. I read each one of them.
Enter in the feelings of comparison.
Romans 12:6 Let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully compairing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
As I moved from one poster to the next, I felt smaller and smaller. They listed their qualifications, all extensive and sounded very fancy. They listed weekend seminars, training trips they took out of country, and extensive training courses with big named instructors. The information they studied was also a wide variety of intuitive arts, psychic classes, mediumship, various types of energy healing, sound healing, tapping, trauma release, astrology- you name it- they have done it. Probably twice. And the prices of their services were even lower then mine. The one I picked had actually been in the industry for 30+ years! Feeling extremely under qualified, and foolish for thinking I was able to do this work, there I stood, awaiting my reading, positively sure she would tell me that my Grandma says not to quit my day job.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
– Theodore Roosevelt
It was my turn and was shown my way to the table. I sat down across from her and she briefly told me about herself. I started to get an odd feeling but chalked it up to nerves. She jumped right in and started off strong. I could validate what was coming through and felt that the session was going to be a great one.
But then, suddenly she shifted and started talking only about my husband. She said we have a wonderful relationship, are soul mates, we really get each other and are a good match. She mentioned he works hard, loves our kids, spends time with them… blah blah blah. Lots of other “hits” that if anyone tried hard enough, they could probably make what she said work in some way. All were true, but very vague. And only about my husband. Um excuses me!? Who’s reading is this?! When she was done she slid her card across the table and told me how to book with her in the future. I asked if I may have one question. I shockingly asked her about my second business, Golden Heart Healing. I couldn’t believe that came outta my mouth! Especially because I had made a choice to not bring it up!
She asked what it was. I told her I was a medium. Holy cow. After she put her eyeballs back in her head, she used a snarky tone and asked who I trained under, how long and made it clear that she had been doing this for 30+years. She shamed me for not being an ordained minister. She gave me a title of a book- psychic book for dummies and told me I needed to have training under her and some other people before I could do “this gig.” She said “these days, you could swing a dead cat around a room and hit a person who thinks they’re a medium!” I am not even kidding. Not even a little bit. She said that!! Needless to say, I left her card on that table.
At first I was mad. I was mad because I wanted a message. I wanted that beautiful and mystical experience. And she read my husband- who wasn’t there. Who didn’t want a reading- who she didn’t have energetic permission for. That’s just no. She was directly in his energy, not reading his connection to me, or how it relates to me- it was all just him and that is not something I am comfortable with. It’s not how I roll.
I’m not sure why she was triggered by my question, but that’s not my concern. What I do know is that she may have 30+ years of experience, but her fancy classes surely didn’t teach her how to do readings, connect with her clients, deliver messages with any type of meaning, evidential information, messages of healing, compassion, clarity, hope, confirmations, proper etiquette, nor ethics when it comes to her work.
However, I did get a message on my way home. The message was perfect. It was just want I needed to hear, I just didn’t know it.
When we compare ourselves to others, we are sabotaging ourselves. We shift our beliefs and start looking at things from a completely different angle. More often then not, these beliefs are built on fears within ourselves, fears of failure, half truths, other people’s thoughts and opinions. They lead us to conclusions that are completely out of alignment with our goals, dreams, life path or our purpose.
Now, I am not a world renowned intuitive, psychic, medium. But I can confidently say, I know I have more to offer. I know my heart is in this work. I know that Spirit will use me in big ways, ways that I don’t even understand. I know why I had to stand and wait, reading those posters. I know what my special message was that day. It was to understand how important it is for me to get out there even more and share my gift, be that messenger and help bring love, compassion, clarity, hope and healing to those who need it. I am called to do what I can so that others get to experience the true miracles that can be experienced. I can see now why people can be skeptic, and where the bad reputations come from. It literally makes me sick.
As I sit here and reflect back on this experience, it amazes me how God truly hears our prayers. And that sometimes we get our answers in the most unexpected ways. When we compare ourselves to others, we are robbing ourselves of what has been given to us.
