Pride & Envy

​I heard someone talking about pride and envy and it has haunted me ever since.    A little too close to home, I think.  These are two thoughts that I use to compare myself to others.  I did so unknowingly, until I heard someone talk about it.  It was one of those aha moments where I realized I was doing something unconsciously.
 
Now that I’ve identified this tendency, I’m working super hard on eradicating it from my thought process.   That is not easy.  It still pops up now and then.  I have to whack it out with the hope that some day it will be banished forever. 
 
Part of my eradication process is to remind myself that we’re all on different paths.  None are better or worse.  All paths are simply different.    Many times, my perception of someone is completely wrong anyway.  There’s that person I thought had a perfect life and turns out they have a difficult one.    Or, someone who I thought had a horrific life but is actually very content. 
 
Embracing the ‘no one has it easy, no one has it hard’ philosophy is a tough one.  I wrote the book Seven Bridges with that thought in mind.  We’re all on different paths at different times for different reasons.    I don’t believe that this is all random.   In fact, I would say it’s nearly impossible that our paths would be random.  I do believe that pride and envy are unnecessary reactions that only serve to muddle up our own unique journeys.