Wanting What You've Got

Jealousy:  (n) Jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself.

Jealousy is a dangerous road to travel.  We can become addicted to wanting another's possessions, or talents, or perhaps their whole life, and we miss what's going on in our own.  God does not bless some and ignore others.  He does not favor some and neglect the rest.  Why is it we desire what we do not have when God didn't choose to put that "thing" in our life?

Brace yourselves because in a moment I am going to make a statement that may offend half of you who read this silly blog.  Women are jealous creatures.

Phew, I said it.  Now, if I begin to get calls and emails about how I need to stand up for my sex, then I'll know exactly what to avoid on future posts.  But in all seriousness, while women are lovely creatures, they can become so focused on what others have that they miss their own blessings.  Men can be jealous too, of course, but women tend to take it to an extreme.

Take a lady at work, for example.  She is middle-aged but looks to be about thirty.  She has long, beautiful brown hair and hazel eyes.  She is athletic, in shape, and has one of those bodies you'd see on the front of a magazine.  She's wealthy, and I'm pretty sure she could go to the mall and buy just about anything she wanted.  She's intelligent.  She's witty.  And she's a good cook too (her peanut butter cookies are to die for!).  Now, after all of that, you'd think she is the person all the ladies are jealous about...but no.  This lady, bless her heart, is constantly comparing herself to the younger women at work.  She tells my assistant she wishes she could fit into her clothes.  She tells me I need to stop eating breakfast so I won't look like her.  She's jealous.  And the sad thing is, she is ignoring her own life in the process.  She's not thankful for her health, she wants others' fortunes. 

She is a reminder to me to focus on what God has placed in my life.  We can all compare ourselves to those around us, and I'm pretty confident that we all do at one time or another.  But what would happen if we compare ourselves to the person God wants us to be?  That's possible right--to compare ourselves to ourselves?  Try it out.  Stop disguising your blessings with jealousy and embrace them.  You might realize what you've got!