Stop Comparing Yourself to Anyone Else
You Are a Universe of One
There’s a truth I wish more people deeply understood: You are incomparable. Not because you’re better or worse than someone else, but because your body, brain, and life are completely unrepeatable. You are shaped by a complex mix of genetics, ancestral imprints, birth conditions, and the environment you live in right now.
Nothing brought this truth home to me more than menopause (along with my own preterm birth). I had always been aware that people aged differently, but as I watched my own body change, it became clear that no two people are operating under the same circumstances. Learning about Traditional Chinese Medicine and concepts like pre-birth and post-birth essence helped deepen that awareness. We don’t all start life as a blank slate. In fact, many of us come into the world carrying burdens that aren’t even our own.
We Don't All Start at Zero
Modern medicine often paints a picture of us being born with a clean genetic deck, as if our DNA alone determines everything. But that’s far from the full story.
You don’t just inherit genes. You inherit epigenetic tags, chemical marks placed on your DNA by your parents’ experiences, including their exposure to toxins, levels of stress, nutritional status, and even unresolved trauma. These tags determine which genes are turned on or off, which means you inherit how your parents’ genes were expressed, not just the blueprint.
Traditional Chinese Medicine has always recognized this concept. At the moment of conception, you receive what’s called your pre-birth essence, or “Jing.” It reflects your parents’ vitality at the time — their age, health, stress levels, and lifestyle choices. Your starting resilience, constitution, and energy are shaped by this.
You also inherit all of your mitochondria, the energy producers in every cell, solely from your mother. If her mitochondria were weakened by poor nutrition, stress, or environmental exposure, then your cellular engines start life at a disadvantage. That matters, especially in a world filled with mitochondrial stressors. BUT, DO NOT BLAME YOUR MOMMA! She didn’t know. 😊☹ And, you are now responsible for your mitochondria. YOU CAN IMPROVE THEM!
Birth Isn’t a Level Playing Field
What happens after conception and before your first breath further defines your trajectory. Birth outcomes are wildly variable, and they matter.
Picture this:
Baby A is born full-term through a vaginal delivery. Skin-to-skin contact is immediate, breastfeeding begins within hours, and this baby gets exposure to natural light during the day and darkness at night. The home is low-tech and nurturing.
Baby B is born prematurely via emergency C-section and spends weeks in the NICU under blue fluorescent lights, surrounded by electromagnetic equipment, receiving antibiotics and formula. There’s no sunrise to set their circadian rhythm. No mother’s milk to seed the gut microbiome. No early bonding to calm the nervous system (I can relate to this one).
These two infants will likely live in completely different biological realities — not because of luck, but because of vastly different starting points in terms of immune development, microbial diversity, mitochondrial resilience, and hormonal programming.
The Quantum Environment Shapes Us from the Start
The term “environment” often brings to mind geography or income level. But your environment also includes invisible forces like light exposure, electromagnetic fields, air quality, water composition, and even the magnetic field of the Earth.
Every one of these environmental inputs shapes your mitochondria , the tiny engines responsible for energy, healing, and communication in your body. They are sensitive not just to nutrients and oxygen, but to light frequencies, magnetic resonance, temperature, and more.
Here are some examples:
Light affects your circadian biology. Sunlight in the morning resets your master clock and programs melatonin production for that night. Blue light at night disrupts that entire process and damages mitochondria.
EMFs (from Wi-Fi, cell towers, and devices) interfere with calcium signaling inside cells, promoting oxidative stress and energy inefficiency.
Water matters too. If the water in your body is heavy with deuterium, it slows down mitochondrial nanomotors and reduces your energy output.
Temperature plays a role. Exposure to natural cold increases mitochondrial density and improves metabolic flexibility.
Grounding and natural charge influence your redox state and inflammation levels.
So two people could eat the same diet, take the same supplements, and live in the same town — and still experience radically different health outcomes simply because of how their bodies interact with their quantum environment.
The Math Behind Your Unique Biology
Let’s do a little math to make this real.
You have several trillion to potentially a few quadrillion mitochondria in your body, depending on how active you are and which tissues we’re talking about. Now imagine:
Each mitochondrion responds to dozens of environmental inputs, from light and air to EMFs, food quality, sleep, and emotional states
These interactions happen every second of every day
Multiply that by every cell, every organ, every moment in your life.
Thus, your mitochondria collectively respond to over 4 sextillion environmental signals per day.
That’s: 4,320,000,000,000,000,000,000
(4.32 × 10²¹ ENVIRONMENTAL interactions every single day! Meanwhile, we’re stuck on genes. LOL)
The result is a biological fingerprint that is yours and yours alone. This is why it’s impossible, biologically and quantum-physically, to truly compare yourself to someone else! HELLO!
Medications and Modern Mitochondrial Damage
Many people today are unknowingly operating with compromised mitochondria due to environmental exposures and medical interventions.
Antibiotics wipe out microbial diversity and damage mitochondria, which evolved from ancient bacteria.
Statins, PPIs, SSRIs, and other common medications are known mitochondrial toxins, especially with long-term use.
Seed oils, processed food, and artificial sweeteners drain redox potential and damage cell membranes.
Chronic artificial lighting and EMF exposure create a mismatch between biology and environment, especially in developing children.
So if you’re wondering why your energy, metabolism, or mental clarity don’t match someone else’s, the real question is, how could they?
NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT CEASE ANY MEDICATION DUE TO THIS ARTICLE. YOU MUCH SPEAK WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE TEAM BEFORE CHANGING YOUR MEDICATION REGIMEN.
You vs. You: The Only Comparison That Makes Sense
Given all these factors — your inherited biology, birth experience, environmental exposure, and life choices — it becomes clear that comparing yourself to anyone else is scientifically absurd.
Instead, compare yourself only to your past self:
Are you sleeping better than last year?
Are your bowel movements easier?
Do you feel calmer or more focused?
Has your ability to recover from stress improved?
Those are meaningful markers of healing. That’s real progress.
You Are a Universe of One
Your starting point was shaped by your parents’ (& their parents’…) health and environment. Your current biology is molded by your lifestyle, relationships, home, and workspaces. And your future health will be determined not by how you measure up to someone else, but by how well you adapt, restore, and align your body with nature’s rhythms.
This is why I say: You are a universe of one. Stop comparing yourself to others. Start learning how to nourish the unique story your cells carry.
It’s not about being better than someone else — it’s about becoming the most vibrant version of yourself.
YOU are magnificent!
Sincerely,
Diane Kopelakis, MS. RD
Quantum Wellness Consultant/Dietitian
CEO of Wellness Clarified
