Tonight a cookie friend texted me and asked, "Do you ever struggle with the feeling of inadequacy with your cookies?"  I thought on that question for a quick second and immediately answered, "NO!" Trust me, it isn't because I feel like my cookies are SO amazing, not at all!  Two years ago, I was finding myself patrolling social media looking at all the amazing cookie pictures and then criticizing my own cookies.  I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of comparison.  Sadly, rather than it improving my techniques or my quality...it stole my joy.  I was comparing everything about my cookies to others and I suddenly forgot why I loved doing cookies.  I let comparison steal my joy.

Do you do that?  It took me a while to realize that I was even doing it!  Then, I went through a phase of not following my fellow cookiers.  I needed to focus on ME.  I needed to find who I was as a cookier rather than trying to be anyone else.  It's amazing the transformation that occurred.  I stopped searching on Pinterest for "cookie" ideas.  I stopped looking on social media at other cookie posts and I started working on me.  I even started sketching my sets out and brainstorming for myself.  I had to experiment and play with icing.  I needed to tweak and alter my dough flavorings.  I started trying different methods and finding what works for me.  I began a journey of staying in my own lane.   I realized a very important lesson, "Don't allow comparison to steal your joy. "