Beware of jealousy
By Jean Ricot Dormeus
Lixberg developed a feeling of jealousy toward his well-off friend Joe, even though they held leadership positions in the same youth club. One day, taking advantage of some social unrest, Lixberg pointed fingers on Joe, accusing him of being part of a loathed grouping. Joe and his family feeled exposed to mob violence and had to take cover for a short while. Following these events, Lixberg left the community out of embarrassment and shame. Jealousy led this young man to resort to wickedness and insensitiveness.
Getting in the habit of comparing ourselves with others will entrap us. Fear of superiority in others most of the time prevents us from reaching our desired level. We’ll be better off getting inspiration from talented and seasoned people, while we compare different stages of our lives. Instead of torturing ourselves over our friends being ahead, we should focus on the big picture and see how far off we have come. We will appreciate the good in others, because we appreciate our ability to move ahead.
Jealousy will bite like a snake. You may pet it as well as you wish, at some point it will inject its venom into your mind and your heart, placing you on the path of destruction. Lope de Vega got it right when he said, “There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy.”
The snare of jealousy is pervasive and can even look natural. According to a study by the University of California in 2015, about 80% of people younger than 30 reported feeling jealous or envious in the preceding year. We must accept life’s reality, sometimes we are ahead, sometimes we are behind. Dreams, ambitions and goals, as well as a good dose of hard work will help us to weed out jealousy, and take any Lixberg’s attitude out of us. Beware of jealousy.
Jean Ricot Dormeus
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