Green with Envy

                                                (image: youtube.com)

Kun magkalipay an iban, maglabad an uyo. Kun abtik sab an iban kay sa ija moisan paglabad an uyo! You have these people around you, right? They are full of envy to the point that they will be irritated with your happiness and achievements.

Envy is an emotion that occurs when one person wants something another person has, whether that thing is a material possession or perceived success or stature.

A complex emotional experience, envy can consist of many elements: longing, feelings of inferiority, ill will toward the envied person, resentment, and guilt. When a person becomes envious, it is often due to some degree of dissatisfaction with the self (goodtherapy.org).

There are companions in the workplace who will make moves to destroy you since you are “too much” for them. They do not understand that it is the deep-set insecurity and envy in them which propelled them to muddle with the business of others. There are also superiors who question your professionalism especially if you will be “liked” better than them.

They fail to reinforce the reflective questioning the inner person using WHY? Why am I behaving this way? Why am I making this achiever as an enemy? Is this some kind of insecurity? Am I envious with the “freedom” of this person?

Envy tends to be directed towards those with whom we compare ourselves, those with whom we feel we are in competition. As Bertrand Russell wrote, ‘Beggars do not envy millionaires, though of course they will envy other beggars who are more successful.’

Burton (2014) posited that envy has never been a greater problem than it is today. Our age of equality encourages us to compare ourselves to one and all, and the internet and social media make this all too easy, fanning the flames of our envy.

So what then? Are we going to allow them to harm us? Or we going to ignore them and let them wallow on their unhealthy mindset?

We continue to improve ourselves. We do our best in everything that we do. We won’t hamper their need to monitor our daily grind and allow them to get envious. What if this is the only meaningful activity of their pathetic lives? We might be depriving of the reason of their existence. Because if they won’t change, they are probably born (or nurtured) that way.

If they are inevitably near (like workmates), ignore them. But if they persist, it is also human nature to bite back. Life is short to keep quiet. Be professional in doing so since you will always win if you do so!