Guts V Veneer

"In our estimation, most other people are happy, some supremely happy.  But are we thinking this because we are making comparisons?  Envy and resentment of other people keep our eyes focused outside ourselves where nothing is ever quite the way it looks.  There is great contentment in minding our own business.  We can correct what needs correction, make amends if we need to - but let the questioning go."

I've always enjoyed the reminder that I'm comparing my insides - the raw, unfiltered emotions and fears and wants that I have - with someone else's outsides - a carefully curated and refined act that always contains a lot of justifications and misdirections meant to present to the world the presence of a wonderful, fascinating human being.  I'm comparing my guts to your veneer.

Never winning that fight.