I compared myself to her all summer long. She's my best friend, and I wasted so much time secretly wishing I had her life. She had better clothes, she had better hair, she had a better life in general. I believed the thought that my life would be so much better if I was just like her. Right?

Wrong. And it's sad to say, but I think we’re all guilty of a little comparison, even with our closest friends. We would never admit it, but we’ve all felt that ever-present pit in our stomach when we see that guy eyeing our friend and not us.

We’ve even all found ourselves comparing ourselves to complete strangers. We don’t even know what they’re personality is or what they’re going through, but you find yourself walking to class and catching glimpses of other people thinking, “Maybe if I was just fit like her, or pretty like her, or had her smile. Maybe then I would be noticed. Maybe if I was louder, quieter, funnier, or more outgoing maybe then life would be better."

If only you could read that other girl’s thoughts, you wouldn’t waste your time comparing, because she’s thinking the same about you, too. If only I had told my best friend sooner, I wouldn’t have wasted my summer comparing, because she was thinking the same thing about me, too.

Not until one night when we were both on the couch crying that we blurted out in utter vulnerability: "I'm jealous of you!"

"No, I'm jealous of you!"

That invisible glass wall of comparison shattered. All it took was 10 seconds of complete transparency, and the cold glass wall that once trapped us disappeared. It cancels out and breaks the second someone says "Me too". There is never any need to look at your body, your personality, your life side by side with someone elses. It just doesn’t work that way, because we are all unique and created differently. This is a good thing, because how boring would life be if we were all exact copies of each other?

We should embrace who we are, because only then can we finally start down the road of loving who we are, instead of wishing we were someone else. Get to know people's personalities before comparing yourself to their outside image. And instead of putting up a wall of comparison and jealousy, tell your friend what you admire about them and let them tell you what they like about you, too. I guarantee that the girl you see walking by is wishing they had your qualities, while you are wishing you had theirs. Break down that glass wall, and spend more time loving yourself than you do comparing yourself.