I have written about comparing myself with other swimmers while swimming. It doesn’t just come up in the pool. It’s old story where my worth seemed to be tied to the relative performance of others around me. It particularly affected me as a child in athletics, academics, and even in music study. I have made progress in this area, but the idea of conditional worthiness still comes up from time to time.
Today at the pool, a guy got in who was pretty fast. I felt myself anticipating getting distracted and bothered, so I neutralized a negative thought about it to keep my mind focused. This helped, as did trying not to look in the direction of the other swimmer as I swam.
This reminds me of an Abraham recording I heard the other day. As I recall, it talked about how people get mixed up considering what everyone else thinks. This does “chaos” to our vibration, and is especially prevalent in competition. It never does us any good. The answer is to stop focusing on others, and tune into ourselves. That clears things up pretty quick.
I listened to this recording and thought, “Wow, that chaos has happened to me a time or two… or a thousand!” So many times I got mixed it up with others’ opinions. I acted as if I had no choice but to pay attention to them, as if I required their approval or agreement to feel good about myself. I didn’t just think I could ignore them.
But actually, I can. I can just shift my thinking, and try my best to get back to what I’m doing.
Just like I did today in the pool.