Phoenix Maplewood tongue-clicking

Shreya nodded in the affirmative, prepared to explain what needed to be explained. Yes, the idea is to compare yourself over time, she began. She could have used herself as an example, comparing the way she was now to how she'd been as a young girl (the difference was considerable), but Esaro did not know her, so that wasn't a great example. So she looked around for a better one.

It clicked as she spotted a young tree by the river — a handsome beech tree. It was likely Esaro knew that trees grew, and had seen many (of varying ages) in his time. Take this beech tree and try not to compare it to others of its kind. Instead, compare it to itself. You can do this by knowing how it has changed over time. It's taller than it used to be. Strong, more weathered — some would even say wiser. This is how you compare something to itself.