Freedom from Envy

There was one time I was feeling envious of a peer. I knew it was a problem, for I felt that most other things in my life were in order — save for this rather uncontrollable emotion. I decided to turn to the internet for help. I searched the phrase “overcoming envy”, hoping for a website that would help me do just that: overcome envy.

The websites that I found provided quite a bit of help, but none that I could really relate to. At least, there were none that made me go, “I never thought about it that way.”

That is, until I saw this website that had this comment (not taken verbatim): would you be willing to trade your life with the life of the object of your envy? And that was when I realised something: much as I do envy much of his life, I have plenty — beyond plenty even — to be really thankful for.

It is amazing how I could be envious of his life when, in fact, he had so many more reasons to be envious of mine. And if he wasn’t, then I am not worthy to be free from my burden of envy, for there is something that I should be envious about: his freedom from envy.