RE: My Envy
October 23, 2014 at 12:47 pm
(This post was last modified: October 23, 2014 at 12:47 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
Brother I hear you because I also struggle with envy. Mostly, it has to do with the fact that I have reached that point in my life where I now have fewer days before me than behind. Some of my former and otherwise average classmates have achieved great professional success. In other areas of my life I have put forth tremendous effort only to not have it pay off.
I deal with this by reminding myself that all I am really seeing is the public part of other people’s lives and not what’s happening to them below the surface. Career success may come at the cost of friends and family. That hot girlfriend could be a gold-digging whore. The respected leader could be pederastic drug-addict. Having known several very wealthy people, people who inherited yachts, multiple summerhouses, and a shitload of money, I can honestly say that they really are not that much happier than anyone else. Also, I recognize that at some crucial decision points I made different choices than those whom I envy. In some cases the price of success in one area seemed to be not worth sacrificing other things of value.
Even still, I must say that the greatest help I have found in overcoming envy has been my faith in the Lord. I believe that success comes from the good of the Lord that acts through each person. Thus I do not envy the person themselves but rejoice in the good things that have come into the world through them. The flip side to this is that I do not consider myself the ultimate source of the good that comes into the world through me; but rather, I am thankful to the Lord for using me in that capacity. I’m sure you can find a way to translate that idea into some secular equivalent.
Best of Luck.
I deal with this by reminding myself that all I am really seeing is the public part of other people’s lives and not what’s happening to them below the surface. Career success may come at the cost of friends and family. That hot girlfriend could be a gold-digging whore. The respected leader could be pederastic drug-addict. Having known several very wealthy people, people who inherited yachts, multiple summerhouses, and a shitload of money, I can honestly say that they really are not that much happier than anyone else. Also, I recognize that at some crucial decision points I made different choices than those whom I envy. In some cases the price of success in one area seemed to be not worth sacrificing other things of value.
Even still, I must say that the greatest help I have found in overcoming envy has been my faith in the Lord. I believe that success comes from the good of the Lord that acts through each person. Thus I do not envy the person themselves but rejoice in the good things that have come into the world through them. The flip side to this is that I do not consider myself the ultimate source of the good that comes into the world through me; but rather, I am thankful to the Lord for using me in that capacity. I’m sure you can find a way to translate that idea into some secular equivalent.
Best of Luck.
