Your life is a 'masterpiece' even if it's not on TV. | A textbook for letting go of comparisons and taking pride in yourself | Self-esteem | Way of life | Mental care | Mindfulness | 40s and 50s |

Do you ever find yourself sighing while watching documentaries about other people's lives or the glittering success stories that scroll by on social media, thinking, 'That's amazing,' or 'Compared to them, I'm...'

It's fine to be moved by them. But listen, don't make one mistake. There is not a one-in-ten-thousand chance that your life is inferior to anyone else's.

Television is just where the camera 'happened' to be

Listen, what TV and the media pick up is just a tiny fraction of the countless stories in this world that they 'happened' to capture.

Sure, the comeback stories and paths of hardship depicted there might be impressive. But what about the days you spent gritting your teeth where no one was watching, with no camera rolling? The tears you swallowed in secret, and the footprints you've left behind as you've walked until today, overcoming lonely nights.

That is an original story that is yours alone, which no one on TV, and no one in the world, could ever imitate.

I've lived for 54 years, and there have been many nights where I felt so pathetic I didn't even want to look in the mirror. There were days I thought of myself as trash. But those torn pages are exactly what have become my strength today.

There's no need to 'look down' on your own life

Stop looking down on your life with words like 'I'm just ordinary' or 'I'm nobody.'

You wake up at the same time every day, head to a job you don't want to do, bow your head for someone else's sake, and head back into the same hell again tomorrow. Do you call that 'ordinary'?

Don't make me laugh. In my town, we call someone who has been walking that tightrope for decades a 'monster', or a 'hero'.

Don't determine your worth by comparing yourself to others. Every sigh you've let out until today, and every day of your life you've protected, has the blood of who you are running through it.

Who else in this world could walk your life in your place?

You've probably had times where you were lost, stood still, or felt like you were drinking muddy water. But those rugged footprints are the greatest proof that you have lived with all your might, aren't they?

Stand tall, your life is a 'legend'.

Life isn't meant to be broadcast to someone else. It's meant for you to find fulfillment as yourself.

Anyone can play the lead role if the cameras are rolling. But the strength you've shown by supporting yourself alone in the cold, dark nights when no one was watching and there was no applause—that's something a lens could never capture in a lifetime. What the TV showed doesn't even amount to a 'scratch' on your life.

You've survived until today. You're looking forward to facing tomorrow. That fact alone makes your life a 'masterpiece' worthy of praise.

Listen. That lonely battle of yours that no one understands—you're the only one who can take that to the grave. That weight is the only 'real' thing you've carved into this world.

If it were up to me, I'd title your life 'Indomitable' and toast to it. But you are the lead.

$$
\normalsize\textbf{If it were you,}\\[1.0em]
\normalsize\textbf{what name would you give to your own clumsy, lovable life}\\[1.0em]
\normalsize\textbf{to laugh about it?}\\[1.0em]
$$

See that awkward way of living that no one else can imitate through to the end. I'll be watching your 'solo performance' from here in silence.