On where we probably got the habit of comparing ourselves

I think we all had that moment in our childhood when the elders would say, "Gawin mo yan, tingnan mo si (your cousin's/sibling's/anyone's name here) kaya gawin, ikaw hindi? or "Ay do this, would you like to be like (your cousin's/sibling's/anyone's name here) na hindi nya alam/gawin? Diba ayaw, kaya gawin mo na." All these things have made us somehow look to others to compare ourselves, if we're good enough or if we're simply enough. I don't think it did us good. So now that we're older, we get that habit of doing something because we just gotta be better than others or we just gotta beat the rest. And this has only become worse because of Facebook and other social media platforms.

There's nothing bad about wanting to be the best. But to the point of thinking that we are far superior than others? I don't think that is good.

Sometimes, we can't blame our elders because the unthinking, narrow-minded sector of the society would treat people depending on how "the best" you are. "The best" in this context refers to those people who supposedly studied longer - doctors, priests, lawyers, etc. The longer your name is with all those titles, the better because that means the more that you will be respected. Never mind if you don't pay your taxes as a doctor. Never mind if you sexually abuse your followers. Never mind if you can be bribed. Just as long as you have the title, you should be respected. Respect is earned not because of what you do as a human being or how you good you treat others, but because of what comes with your name.

And this is the sad, very sad reality that we live in. This very sad reality is the reality that our parents want to spare us from. So what happens? They push us to our limits, to be the best ... even to the point that comparing ourselves with others is their way to motivate us.