There have been people throughout the course of my life whom I’ve said…
“I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t like them.”
If I were really honest it would probably be because they got ahead of me in some area of life and that ugly green monster is rearing its head in my heart.
My guess is a lot of the people we “don’t like,” we don’t want to be around, or we’re critical of are really just a reflection of something we aren’t that we wish we were, or something we don’t have that we wish we had.
You know an interesting thing I’m learning about envy, it breeds in proximity. In other words, I’m not really in danger of envying Tiger Woods or Bill Gates. Instead it’s my neighbors, my close friends, and maybe even my spouse.
Aristotle said “Envy grows naturally in a relationship between equals.”
Envy breeds in the environment of proximity, where it’s always lurking, waiting to destroy community.
So how about you?
- Do you cringe when your friends seem to succeed where you’re failing?
- Are you critical of other’s accomplishments, talents, and appearances?
- Do you tend to look for the flaws in others hoping they will do less than their best?
- Are you secretly happy when a friend suffers a setback?
Be honest, how are you dealing with envy these days?
