I'm a better person than you are

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

I’m a better person than you are.

I know it’s not polite to say that, but if we are going to have an honest relationship, we can’t keep ignoring it. It’s the metaphorical elephant in the room. It gets in the way.

So let’s deal with it. Let’s face it. Let’s acknowledge it.

I’m a better person than you are.

I’m not saying that I’m better than you in every way. That would be silly. Hahaha. You can probably think of a dozen ways that you are better than me. And I’m likely to agree with at least ten. It’s just that I’m just better than you in the ways that matter.

If you’re as good a person as I hope you are, you won’t be defensive. You won’t let your ego get in the way. Instead, secure in the knowledge that you are better than almost everyone else, you’ll accept the truth about our relationship with neither jealousy nor resentment.

But much as I hope you won’t be defensive, you probably are. You might be thinking: he’s got it backward. He’s not better than me. I’m better than him.

You might be thinking: “Who is spending hours of their time writing, working on getting a few minutes of whose attention? I’m not spending the time. I’m not trying to get your attention. You’re working for me, not the reverse. And that makes me better.”

If you thought that, you’d be wrong.

You might be thinking, “I’m not the one who is bragging about how I’m better than someone else. That’s you. And people who brag are always compensating for their sense of inferiority. And I’m not doing that. So I’m better.”

If you thought that, you’d also be wrong.

The truth is I’m not a better person than you, and you are not a better person than me, and if either of us is trying to judge who is better, we would be making a mistake.

Hey! I talk to God. Doesn’t that make me better?

Hey! I claim I talk to God, which is insane. Doesn’t that make me worse?

Let’s assume, for an instant, that what I talk to is actually God. (We’ll consider the reverse in a moment.)

The God I talk to would talk to you if you wanted. Or to anyone else. So I’m not better.

Let’s assume that what I talk to isn’t God. So what? You could invent your own fake God to talk to. Why does that make me any better or any worse than you?

Yeah, there are things I might do better than you. And there are things you might do better than me. So what? Who’s better?

I might have more of some things than you, and you might have more of some things than me. So what? Who’s better?

I am, of course.

Nah, just kidding.