I was taught to compare and contrast in school. In fact, I became so good at it that I continued to compare and contrast everything that came before me even after I left school. I probably could not live a day without engaging in some form of comparison.
Initially, I thought I was doing it because it made me felt like I was leading an educated and knowledgeable life. But on deeper thought, it seems like a reinforced behaviour, sort of like Pavlovian conditioning. School and society give rewards if I excel in it.
However, there is a small pitfall. Comparison and contrast prevented me from appreciating things for what they were or people for who they were. I was just too distracted by my eagerness to appear intelligent. Life, by itself, is beautiful but yet, I could not see it.
The day I stop comparing, I start to appreciate life for what it is and that was when the real beauty of this world starts to reveal itself.
Initially, I thought I was doing it because it made me felt like I was leading an educated and knowledgeable life. But on deeper thought, it seems like a reinforced behaviour, sort of like Pavlovian conditioning. School and society give rewards if I excel in it.
However, there is a small pitfall. Comparison and contrast prevented me from appreciating things for what they were or people for who they were. I was just too distracted by my eagerness to appear intelligent. Life, by itself, is beautiful but yet, I could not see it.
The day I stop comparing, I start to appreciate life for what it is and that was when the real beauty of this world starts to reveal itself.
An ordinary sunset at the "head of two rivers" (두물머리)
Kyunghee Palace - the last of the five palaces in Seoul I visited
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