Yes To Less: The Summer Mistake We All Make

Let’s talk about it: comparison.

We compare vacations. We compare bodies. We compare families and front porches and how many books we’ve read by June. Summer seems to stir it all up. Maybe it's the slower pace. Maybe it’s the relentless highlight reel on social media. But the sun comes out, and so does the urge to measure our life against someone else's.

To be honest, I’ve felt a little immune to this in recent years. Since Breaking Free from Body Shame, since coaching hundreds of women, comparison hasn’t felt like my primary battle. I even wrote in Tired of Being Tired about how I’ve learned to navigate it, like the time I visited my sister’s home, which had been featured in an actual home decor magazine, and talked myself through the temptation to spiral.

But oh, friend. How the mighty have fallen.

This past week, comparison hit me hard: right in the place where I once felt so secure.

If you’ve been around the Fully Awake Women’s Club, you know our family recently moved into a new house. It was a long renovation and a long wait, but in April, we finally moved in. Most mornings, I wake up and write “this house” at the top of my gratitude list. It feels like a miracle.

But then I went to my friend Hannah’s house.

I was there to see her and her newborn baby, not her house. But still, I noticed everything. The warmth. The colors. The textures. The finishes. The personality. The way her home felt like a place where young kids grow and play and flourish. There were toys and forts made out of cardboard boxes and stacks of books. It was beautiful - stunning, actually, but more than that, it was different.

Our house feels like a teen house. There are extra cars outside instead of scooters. Mugs pile up because all our teens drink coffee now. Sometimes it feels almost empty, because the kids are off living their lives. Our home has its own kind of beauty, its own kind of story. But that night, I drove away from Hannah’s and wished I had her silverware, her whimsical childlike chaos, and her perfect European-inspired bedroom.

And within a few hours, I felt sick over the comparison.

How could I forget that this house is an answered prayer? How could I overlook the miracle?

Comparison is the summer mistake we all make. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. We can catch ourselves. We can course-correct. And we can choose presence, gratitude, and growth instead.

Here’s how I’m fighting comparison this summer:

1. I’m doubling down on gratitude.

These gratitude journals from our shop are on massive sale right now — and once they’re gone, we won’t restock them. Use it. Fill it. Remember the miracles.

2. I’m blessing instead of withholding.

When I’m tempted to feel jealous, I’m choosing to tell people what I love about their lives and how grateful I am for them. Jealousy tries to shrink the world. Celebration makes it bigger.

3. I’m confessing and repenting.

I’m not ignoring the comparison or chalking it up to a bad mood. I’m bringing it before God. Discontentment and envy are spiritual issues, and healing starts with honesty.

4. I’m staying present.

I’m choosing to live this one wild and beautiful life (the one I actually have) with full attention and joy. My family. My season. My house. My body. My work. My summer.

Let’s not make the same mistake again.

Let’s not let comparison rob us of the gifts God has already given. The enemy would love for you to spend your summer wishing for someone else’s life. But Jesus offers freedom — even here.

Scripture says, “Each one should test their own work. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.” (Galatians 6:4)

You don’t need someone else’s story to feel fulfilled. You have your own. And it’s worth being awake for.

With you,
Jess