The Ragtag Daily Prompt word this morning is ENVY. American poet Edgar Guest had some wise thoughts on this subject and many of his verses speak of being content, so I’m going to post a couple today.
Here’s the first…
THE OTHER FELLOW
Whose luck is better far than ours?
The other fellow’s.
Whose road seems always lined with flowers?
The other fellow’s.
Who is the man who seems to get
Most joy in life, with least regret,
Who always seems to win his bet?
The other fellow.
Who fills the place we think we’d like?
The other fellow.
Whom does good fortune always strike?
The other fellow.
Whom do we envy, day by day?
Who has more time than we to play?
Who is it, when we mourn, seems gay?
The other fellow.
Who seems to miss the thorns we find?
Th other fellow.
Who seems to leave us all behind?
The other fellow.
Who never seems to feel the woe,
The anguish and the pain we know?
Who gets the best seats at the show?
The other fellow.
And yet, my friend, who envies you?
The other fellow.
Who thinks he gathers only rue?
The other fellow.
Who sighs because he thinks that he
Would infinitely happier be,
If he could be like you or me?
The other fellow.
From his book JUST FOLKS
copyright 1917 by The Reilly & Britton Co.
Christine's Collection 
Exactly. I avoid my envious neighbor because she’s just mean, and what I have and do? Must not be that different from her. We live 20 yards from each other and share an alley. I think the problem is that we can feel as if the other person having a thing we wish we had has taken that thing from us which is absolutely untrue (usually). My mom envied her sisters because their husbands were living. Seriously nasty, IMO.
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You’re right. I think recognizing that this is our own emotion may be half the battle. Otherwise we do think THEY did something to limit my life. We were poor because your folks had the money kind of thing
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Too much of that in our world right now.
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