It Happens to the Best of Us
Sometimes we lose perspective, our foresight hazes over and our blessings begin to lose value. But let this be known that this feeling is normal and that it happens to the best of us.
While jealousy has the ability to consume us, no matter how much we lust after the achievements of others and crave the same results, there is no purpose. We tell ourselves if they can do it, I should be able to do it, as well.
But why aren’t we able to achieve the same success that we see? It’s because we all have our own purpose and gifts to share with the world. Every season a person goes through is a journey, and by spending too much time focusing on theirs we lose perspective in ours.
If we stare at the girl in the equitation class with the perfect form, we lose our own balance. If we spend our time wishing we had a luxurious show outfit and an imported horse like our friend, we lose appreciation for our own belongings (and horse). In the realm of social media, we confuse other’s success for our lack of it. When the truth is, that jealousy blinds us from seeing our abundance of fortune. Furthermore, as much as we’d like to think that Instagram is an accurate reflection of our lives, it’s far from that, which is something we need to keep in mind.
The truth is, what we put on social media is a curated highlight reel of moments throughout our journey we choose to share. We use Instagram filters to make our feeds look better and Pinterest boards to show everyone our #rootds, tack and stable goals. Social media allows people to create their own identity, whether it is accurate or not.
Envy is a natural emotion and everyone experiences it, recognizing that can make it easier for it to pass. Although it’s natural it’s not beneficial, and in fighting it, you are actually holding on to it much tighter. Showing compassion to yourself is the first step to relaxing its grip on you.
Let’s put this into horse terms. When we half-halt it is to rebalance the gaits rhythm. We don’t pull tighter and tighter on the reins, because the horse will quicken- right? Instead we sit tall, gently squeeze the outside rein and push them into it, resulting in them balancing themselves. Similarly we must do the same when we feel jealous. We must recognize the feeling and encourage ourselves to appreciating our fortune, which aids in the process of re-calibrating our perspective.
To put it simply, we can’t live our best life and continue to create the best version of ourselves if we are too busy wishing we had someone else’s success. By showing empathy to ourselves and others when envy brews, we can gently focus our attention and realign our perspective where it belongs: on our own journey.
