What is OC3?

You've heard of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but have you ever heard of OC3? This was new to me, but I recently read an article about it on the website www.selfesteem4women.com. It is Obsessive Compulsive Comparing and Competing, and according to the article, it can really do a number on your self-esteem. So I think it's kind of funny that psychologists come up with a name for everything - now OC3 is an actual diagnosis for a psychological condition. Give me a break! But seriously, I think girls and women especially do an unhealthy amount of comparison shopping. Who is prettier than me? Who has more money? Who has a cuter boyfriend? Better clothes? Whiter teeth? Bigger boobs? And the list goes on and on. But it's not that OC3 is bad for your self-esteem; the reason you might have OC3 in the first place is a result of low self-esteem stemming back to our formative years. We were not given the tools to be self-confident and self-assured from the time we were little. We were taught to look on the outside for our inner self-worth. We get on this super-highway of comparing and competing, and we just can't get off. There are so many images of perfection thrown at us every day, the threats are too numerous and too frequent to overcome. As adults, we can start to get off the super-highway (or at least slow down) by just realizing and noticing when that little voice pops up and says something competitive. "There it is. Stop now." Start to observe more and judge less, and you will find yourself slowing down little by little. And for the young girls in our lives, we can tell them every day that they are perfect just the way they are, on the inside and on the outside. We need to teach our daughters to embrace their differences, no matter how much society tries to make us all the same. Start the dialog young and keep the communications open and honest, and just keep believing that it's true, because it is!