Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she asks the question, I'm not jealous! What gets you turning green?
This question has been on my mind for a couple of days now, and i'm having a difficult time coming up with a good answer.
Right off-hand, i can't think of anything much that makes me jealous or envious.
(For clarity's sake, i define jealousy as "I want what you have!" and envy as "I can't have what you have, so I don't want you to have it, either!")
See i've been posting a gratitude on a gratitude list on a forum i belong to every single day for a while now, maybe a couple of years, and i have started doing the Ten Things of Thankful every Saturday, and i try to think of three things i'm thankful for every morning. It all seems to be rubbing off and doing me some good.
Sure, there are things i don't have that i would like to have, but i'm not jealous that other people have those things. No way do i want what they have, it's theirs. It would be nice to have my own, but i'm not wanting to take yours, or wishing you didn't have it because i can't.
In fact, i'm glad for you that you have whatever it is, and while i might like to have one also, i figure i've got plenty of other great stuff, and i might still get it one of these days.
There's also the matter of faith that enters into this. My faith tells me that the blessings of this world are fickle things, they don't last. They are nice, and to be accepted with gladness and enjoyed as good gifts from The Almighty, but not chased after in their own right. The treasure where thieves cannot break in and steal and moth and rust cannot destroy is where i want to put my heart.
Yes, it would be nice to have some newer vehicles that didn't break down as often. Yes, it would be nice not to have a house with a broken foundation. Certainly i wouldn't mind having more money to give away.
That i can think of, though, there's nothing worth being jealous about, because Ghandi was right, this world has enough for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed.
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And now, a random news item from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.
The news is, it's official, we are a hideout. Bigger Girl came to me the other day and said, "Mom, you remember my friend Stella?"
Yes, i said, wondering what i was getting myself into this time.
"Well," Bigger Girl continued, "she's not safe at her house any more, her boyfriend threatened to kill her, so I brought her here. Her parents bought her a bus ticket home, but it's for Monday. That's why he was threatening her, he knew she was leaving. Can she stay the weekend? He has no idea where we live, he doesn't even know my real name, he just knows me by my nickname."
Of course she can stay, i answered. There's no way i'm turning someone away under those circumstances, and of course Sweetie agreed.
Stella was a very good houseguest. She's now back home with her parents in another state, and i hope she gets the help she needs so she doesn't end up in the same pattern again.
Today is:
Biographer's Day -- anniversary of the day Boswell met Johnson in 1763
Hires Root Beer Day -- pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires created it on this day in 1866
Love a Tree Day -- and read about the love of a tree, in Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree
Middlesex Day -- Middlesex, England (although it is only a postal county now, many celebrate the heritage of what was once the county that included London)
National Coquilles St. Jacques Day
Sea-Monkey® Day -- as declared by someone who likes these little brine shrimp as pets; for info on keeping Sea Monkeys, check here; for ideas about how to celebrate there is a site about how to worship sea monkeys
Sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" in Rounds Day -- but not around me, please, or i might do something drastic
Sneeze Without Embarrassment Day -- because of pollen levels, as declared by Karen Richmond, of Eastport, MI, US
Spaghetti-Os Day -- they were first sold on this day in 1966
St. Brendan the Voyager's Day (Patron of boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, travellers, whales; Ardfert, Ireland; Clonfert, Ireland; Kerry, Ireland)
St. Honorius of Amiens' Day (Patron of bakers[especially bakers of communion wafers], cake makers, candlemakers, chandlers, confectioners, florists, flour merchants, oil refiners, pastry chefs; against drought)
St. John of Nepomuk's Day (Patron of bridges, bridge builders, confessors, discretion, good and right confession, running water, silence; Bohemia; Czech Republic; Slovakia; against calumnies, floods, indiscretions, and slander)
Sudan People's Liberation Army Day -- South Sudan
Teachers' Day -- Malaysia
U.S.Nickel Day -- the first U.S. five-cent nickel was minted on this day in 1866
Wear Purple for Peace Day -- the idea being that until we become a peaceful species, the aliens won't visit
Anniversaries Today:
Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, marries Marie Antoinette, 1770
Edgar Allen Poe marries his cousin Virginia Clemm, 1836
Birthdays Today:
Megan Fox, 1986
Matt Ryan, 1985
Jim Sturgess, 1981
Tori Spelling, 1973
David Boreanaz, 1971
Gabriela Sabatini, 1970
Tracey Gold, 1969
Janet Jackson, 1966
Mare Winningham, 1959
Joan Benoit Samuelson, 1957
Olga Korbut, 1955
Debra Winger, 1955
Pierce Brosnan, 1953
Bob Edwards, 1947
Bill Smitrovich, 1947
Billy Martin, 1928
Liberace, 1919
Woody Herman, 1913
Louis "Studs" Terkel, 1912
Margaret Rey, 1906
Henry Fonda, 1905
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 1804
William Seward, 1801
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Top Gun(Film), 1986
"McCartney II"(album release), 1980
"Listen to What the Man Said"(Single release), 1975
"Annie Get Your Gun"(Musical), 1946
"Dalibor"(Opera), 1868
Today in History:
The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence is re-established as a republic, 1527
Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England, 1532
Samuel Johnson meets his future biographer, James Boswell, in London, 1763
Denmark abolishes slave trade, 1792
The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail, 1843
Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer, 1866
A naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight, 1919
Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc, 1920
Chaim Weizmann is elected the first President of Israel, 1948
The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between John F Kennedy International Airport (then Idlewild Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines, 1951
Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, 1960
China's Cultural Revolution begins, 1966
The Soviet Venera 5 spacecraft lands on Venus, 1969
India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote is in favour of merging with India, 1975
Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1975
The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain, 1986
A report by United States' Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine, 1988
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the US Houses of Congress, 1991
Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote, 2005
The oldest water ever found is discovered in a Canadian mine; the water dates back 2.6 billion years, 2013
A nicely well written post on jealousy and envy. Jealousy and envy is not good for our soul and health. Have a beautiful day!
ReplyDeleteMimi, when I was young I'm pretty sure I felt jealous or envious but as time went on as grew up I realized that being jealous or envious wouldn't help me and it would only hurt me. I've got everything that I want especially ad wife that loves me and cares a great deal about me, cruising, which I never thought I'd every do, and family & friend ( blogger friends are included ). I have everything that I want so why should I feel jealous or envious of anyone. Life is to important to cry about being jealous or envious.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day my friend. See ya.
Cruisin Paul
I'm not jealous or envious either. It's a waste of time and energy. I'm happy for folks that get those things they want. Wanting and needing is two different things. I always remember that too.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for Stella getting home safe, but you are right, she needs to break the cycle of her choices in men. I'll add her to my prayer list. I was Stella long ago and married my father (so to speak). I know that cycle.
Have a blessed day, my friend. ☺
I'm going to be honest here – I'm very jealous of anyone who can have chocolate French silk pie without feeling guilty. I eat it, but not without the guilt. :-)
ReplyDeleteBest,
Deb
The older I get, the less jealous I am of what anyone has. I can admire, but I'm good with what I have. Sometimes stuff comes with problems, problems I don't need.
ReplyDeleteGood subject well written. Jealousy and envy just make people unhappy.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely written. I wish everyone felt the way you do. It is better to be thankful for what we do have than worry about what we don't have. God makes sure we have all we need. That was kind of you to let Stella stay with you.
ReplyDeleteThe other side of the coin I did not mention in my own post, is that while I know many people with those lovely backyard oasis -- I also know they are crippled in debt because of them. NO thanks! If one day we are so blessed to be able to obtain, that's great and PTL! But I'll not go into debt and live with that over my head just to get it.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness and I hope Stella has a happy ending.
I think jealousy and envy stem from comparing ourselves to others, and what we have and they don't. I like the way you describe yourself. I am the same way, I don't mind that others have things that I don't have. I appreciate the people and things in my life and don't need to "Keep up with the Jones'", as it were.
ReplyDeleteI think jealousy and envy stem from comparing ourselves to others, and what we have and they don't. I like the way you describe yourself. I am the same way, I don't mind that others have things that I don't have. I appreciate the people and things in my life and don't need to "Keep up with the Jones'", as it were.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more, Mimi. There is nothing to be jealous about. I think sometimes people make too much of things. There is already too much "stuff". Things do not bring happiness; in fact they often bring stress. While I some things were different in my life, they are not linked to jealousy of others. I am thankful for what I have and am sure God knows this. I have learned to not complain, because then I am reminded that things could happen. Things can always be worse. We each have our own burdens, and the job is to learn and grow. I try to find the positives; they are there. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteYour take on jealousy is spot on! I absolutely agree with you. :)
ReplyDelete