There are two kinds of slaves, the prisoners of addiction, and the prisoners of envy. --Ivan Ilich
No emotion brings us more personal pain or wastes more of our time than envy. When we envy, we are never free from stress, because envy takes no holidays. Shakespeare called envy the green sickness. Envy magnifies molehills into mountains.
Just how foolish envy truly is becomes clear when we think of it as a row of hooks on which to hang grudges. When we envy others, especially our family members, we blind ourselves to the good we could see in all people. We are ignoring life's flowers to gather bouquets of weeds.
When we envy the accomplishments or possessions of another, we will be better off if we look to our own prized possessions, to those things in ourselves that no one else has in exactly the same way.
"...we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, Page 25~
rick, thank you for this share!!!!!! i was SOOOO bad at envy...it ate me up...i did a share on it because this was a horrible defect of mine.....while others seemingly were **passing me by* in the blessings/ growth area....i was eaten up by envy....i was too sick to realize that to change my karma, i had to change me....get into recovery!!! iam so grateful that i am in recovery cause now i can make my OWN gratitude list.......peace/ rosie
