I bought a hummingbird feeder.

I’ve always wanted one, and I finally decided to turn my wishing into action.

I brought it home, made a homemade sugar and water mixture then my husband hung it off the back of the house.

I was (am) so excited about it!

It didn’t take long before I started seeing a hummingbird in the mornings; I began brewing my coffee and sitting on the couch right inside the window so I could enjoy his visits.

It made me so happy, and you guys know that’s something I’ve been talking about a lot lately; learning what makes you happy then making the effort to do those things. Even small things, because, it all adds up.

Anyway, recently, my husband and I went for a walk after dinner in our neighborhood and I noticed one of our lovely neighbors had a couple of birdfeeders in their yard. I was so intrigued because it kind of looked like hummingbirds enjoying the feeders. But there were so many I talked myself out of the idea of it being hummingbirds, after all, I only had one coming to my feeder so she couldn’t possibly have that many.

A couple of mornings ago I was taking Jake, our Golden, out and ran into this neighbor and asked her about the feeders. I just couldn’t get it out of my mind, there were so many little birds hovering around it. She confirmed what I wanted to deny, it was definitely hummingbirds.

I felt a small part of my heart wilt.

The next morning, as I waited for our little guy to show up, I felt myself a little disappointed, after all, I was only getting one bird, and she had so many. It’s amazing how the happiness I felt the morning before had dissolved into slight disappointment. And the only reason that happened was because I noticed someone else was doing a little better than me. If I had never seen her bird-feeders, I would’ve continued to be thrilled with my little visitor, but once I realized, she had more, mine became a disappointment.

As I sat on the couch having a conversation with myself about this, it occurred to me that comparison is the scourge of humanity. I mean, why was I comparing? I had exactly what I wanted, hummingbird feeder with a hummingbird that visited regularly. If I hadn’t been comparing myself to my neighbor, I would’ve been completely happy with my little guy.

He was enough.

That’s when I decided.

If I never have more than one hummingbird in the backyard, I’m going to be thrilled with it. I’m not going to lose happiness in what I have because somebody else’s might look better or different.

I’m just not going to do it.

It’s a simple lesson for me, but a timely one.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to get up and wait for my little visitor and enjoy my cup of coffee, it doesn’t matter if everyone else around me has twenty hummingbirds, I’m thankful for the one!

I’m thinking about naming him, any suggestions?

This story I’m telling you is true, but it’s also meant to be a metaphor. What is it in your life that you’re comparing to others? And how does that make you feel? Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be completely content with what we have, it would make for a happier life for sure.

It’s something to work on.

What have you done to increase your happiness today? You know, you don’t have to be sad to want to increase your happiness, happiness is meaningful and it makes for a better life.

All it takes is a little effort.