Comparison: The Silent Thief of Recuperation
Fleet taught that destructive thoughts steal rest. Most of us let it happen before breakfast.
Comparison rarely announces itself.
It doesn’t arrive shouting.
It slips in while you’re scrolling.
A fleeting glance at someone else’s work,
their body,
their focus,
their apparent momentum—
and before any conscious verdict forms, something inside you tightens.
Am I behind?
Am I doing it wrong?
Shouldn’t I be further along by now?
Many of us run this loop before we’ve even finished our coffee.
Comparison is one of the most socially sanctioned forms of self-inflicted pressure. It masquerades as motivation or healthy curiosity, yet it quietly siphons energy and attention.
The mind turns outward and begins to measure—
not to understand,
but to rank.
And ranking changes the body:
breath becomes shallow,
shoulders rise,
the nervous system slips into quiet evaluation mode.
Nothing is objectively wrong,
yet the body braces as though there is.
That’s the piece most people never notice.
What comparison is actually doing
In the teachings of Dr. Thurman Fleet—outlined in his influential work Rays of the Dawn: Natural Laws of the Body, Mind, and Soul—comparison is a subtle but powerful violation of the natural laws of the mind. Fleet identified twelve destructive mental patterns (often called the “laws of the mind” in their negative aspect): fear, worry, anger, envy, jealousy, hatred, criticism, selfishness, prejudice, greed, vanity, and hypocrisy.
These are not mere passing emotions; they are active forces that disrupt harmony. When we compare, we quietly activate several at once: fear (“Am I safe? Am I falling behind?”), worry (about progress), envy (of others’ surfaces), and self-criticism (“Am I doing it wrong?”).
Fleet taught that over 90% of dis-ease originates in the mind. These destructive patterns generate chronic tension, distort perception, and manifest physically—shallow breathing, muscle tightness, fatigue, irritability, and a nervous system locked in low-grade alert. Comparison uses the wrong reference points: surfaces instead of context, visibility instead of substance, highlight reels instead of full lives. It trains the body to stay vigilant, even in restful moments, creating the persistent feeling of never quite arriving.
Fleet’s framework reminds us that true health flows from obedience to natural laws across body, mind, and soul. The four laws of the body (nourishment, movement, recuperation, sanitation) support physical vitality, but the mind’s destructive forces undermine them unless corrected.
A small, realistic experiment
For the next couple of days, don’t try to eliminate comparison.
Just catch it—as Fleet urged us to become aware of detrimental ideas before they take root.
When you feel that familiar inward pinch, ask one quiet question:
“Compared to what?”
Then gently return attention to something real and present:
the weight of your feet on the floor,
the rhythm of your breath,
the temperature of the air against your skin.
No drama. Just a small homecoming—an act of replacing the negative with awareness and presence.
A quiet reminder
You don’t have to win your own life.
You only have to live it—in harmony with the natural laws Fleet described.
“I return to my own life.”
Sometimes that single pivot is enough to restore obedience to the mind’s higher possibilities.
Live Long and Prosper,
-Dan
I put together Fleet’s principles in a simple to read format. It’s In a Kindle format. If you are interested, check it out
