Two years ago, I wrote a blog post about this little aloe here … all decorated up and trying it’s hardest to be a “Christmas cactus.”
You see, the little aloe plant was sitting next to the big, beautiful Christmas cactus, and it couldn’t help feeling that it “wasn’t quite good enough.” After all, the Christmas cactus is so much bigger! And the Christmas cactus has such beautiful stunning blooms!
Sitting next to such a big, fabulous plant left the little aloe feeling somewhat despondent.
This same thing oftentimes happens in life. We look at the people around us and we begin to feel like we “aren’t quite good enough.”
* They have such a great personality.
* They are so charismatic and outgoing!
* They have so many friends!
* They appear to be so successful!
From our vantage point, it looks like they are “so much better.”
And just like the little aloe, we too might start to feel somewhat despondent. We might think what we have to offer the world isn’t “good enough.” We might feel like we need to “decorate ourselves” (just like the little aloe all decorated up as a “Christmas cactus”) in order to be “good enough.”
But to be honest … neither the Christmas cactus nor the aloe are technically “cacti.”
Both are technically “succulents.”
Furthermore, the Christmas cactus (which, as established, isn’t a “cactus”) … isn’t even a “Christmas” cactus. No. It blooms in November. So technically, it is a “Thanksgiving cactus.”
But of course the little aloe doesn’t realize all these technicalities … as it sits alongside the fabulous, gorgeous Christmas cactus day after day.
In the same way, as we look at the people around us (thinking they are “so much better” than we are, and trying to be just like them!) we have no idea the discrepancies and technicalities hiding under the surface.
The aloe and the Christmas cactus are both “succulents.”
They are both the same!
So also, those people whom we look at and think they are “so much better” than us … we are all the same! We are all human … we all have faults, and flaws, and foibles. We are all the same.
Even though the little aloe might feel like it’s “not good enough” because it doesn’t have gorgeous showy blooms, the aloe has something which the Christmas cactus doesn’t have. The aloe has healing properties to soothe and help heal sunburns! Christmas cactuses can’t do that!
In the same way, we might look at others around us thinking they are “so much better” than us because of the amazing things they can do. But we have our own amazing things which are special to us!
We can do greatness which they can’t do!
We are special in our own way! We matter just as much!
Two years have now passed since I first wrote the blog about the aloe trying to be “good enough.” And here … as you can see, not much has changed.
The aloe has grown. It is a lot bigger now. It is all grown up.
And yet … it is still trying to be a “Christmas cactus.”
This exact same thing happens in life. We might know (in our head) that we are special in our own way. We might know (in our head) that we matter just the way we are!
But has that knowledge made it from our head to our heart? Are we boldly living from an unshakable confidence of being unconditionally loved by Jesus Christ?
Do we have the courage to truly live out who God has made us to be??
The things which we focus on the most will become what drives our behavior.
If we are continually looking at others, thinking they are better than us, or that they have more than us … this will lead to a place of despair & depression. A place of forever trying to “be good enough.” (just like the all-grown-up aloe pictured above)
But, by the same token … if we are continually looking at others and thinking we are so much better than they are … this will lead to a place of pride. Which is also a very unhealthy place to be!
Whatever we look for is what we will find. If we are looking for others who are less than us, we will surely find it. If we are looking for others who are better than us, we will surely find it.
Here you can see tiny little succulents and poinsettias which we purchased as gifts back in 2021.
The insecure aloe (pictured above – all decorated up as a “Christmas cactus”) now has a choice to make. It can either continue to feel “not good enough” next to the actual Christmas cactus. Or it can suddenly start to feel “better than” next to the tiny little succulents.
We all face this exact same choice. We all, at one time or another, will find ourselves next to someone who seems so much better than we are. And we all, at one time or another, will find ourselves next to someone like these tiny little succulents … they are much smaller.
And we too will have the choice to make: do we look down our nose in pride at the smaller piddly little succulents because we are so much bigger and better?
We all will face this decision.
We can either look down on others in pride (because we are “so much better”) … or we can go to a place of depression (because we don’t feel “good enough”).
Depending on what we are looking for, we can always find someone better than us; and we can always find someone worse off than us.
Here you can see mine & hubby’s poinsettia from last Christmas. By some miracle not of my own doing, it managed to live and continue growing throughout this past year. And now, it is turning red just in time for Christmas.
This Christmas poinsettia also has a decision to make. It can look down its nose in pride at all the other poinsettias from last Christmas which didn’t survive and make it to this Christmas. It can look down its nose in pride at the tiny little Christmas poinsettias (pictured above). Or it can simply be grateful for the being exactly what God made it to be.
This is the decision we each face every day.
God has made each of us unique and special! God has given each of us something special which only we can bring to the world!
* Do we look down on others in pride because we think we are “so much better”?
* Or do we look at others in despair because we think we “aren’t good enough”?
* Or do we simply be grateful for who God made us to be?
We all are a work in progress!
