“Don’t compare yourself to others. Be like the Sun and the Moon and shine when it’s your time.”

The Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon at 1.4 million km across versus the Moon’s 3,474 km across. The Sun is also 27 million times greater in mass than the Moon (Source).

Sometimes we compare ourselves to others, like the Moon in comparison to the Sun. We perceive another person’s light as shining brighter–bigger–better.

However, despite the Sun’s greater size and mass, its orientation in the solar system makes it look to be the same size as the Moon when viewed from Earth. Furthermore, the Moon, despite its much smaller size in the solar system, entirely blocks the Sun during solar eclipses. And while the Sun is key to photosynthesis, the Moon’s gravitational pull generates the Earth’s tides.

Although different in size, they both shine in their one way at their own time. So, it would be silly to say one is more important or better than the other. There should be no comparison when it comes to their value.

This anonymous quote uses the Sun and Moon as a great illustration for why we should not compare ourselves to others.

Let’s be like the Sun and Moon and shine at our own time in our own way.