A while back, I was feeling a little bit green about my lifestyle ( or really, I should say green about other’s lifestyles). Admitting that feeling is very embarrassing because saying it makes it seems as if I really have it tough when in reality my life is pretty charmed. Oh sure. I have had situations of grief, disappointment, and pain but overall the beauty and blessings of this life overshadow any trouble.

This green mode mostly happens with the comparison game. You know how it is played- you hear or see someone else’s things, lifestyle, attitude and you think, “They have it all together. No problems. They seem so…. (fill in the blank) chic, put-together, stylish, successful…” And so, the ugly green monster (not Fenway Park) of envy emerges.

The thing is 1) Everyone has stuff, junk or another four-letter word that starts with “s”. No one is exempt. 2) People that seem to “have it together” are folks that either: a) good at their own “press” b) have a neat accent so when describing what they are doing, it seems cool c) Don’t care a rip what anyone else thinks. They have a certain cavalier attitude. Confidence.

Life is quite wonderful. Our respective lives are wonderful. I realize that I have all that I need and want. The things that I get annoyed or frustrated about are just that- annoyances. They too shall pass.

In our small group we just finished discussing Ephesians, a book of the New Testament. The apostle Paul gives some good advice regarding how one should live one’s life: how to avoid certain emotions and behaviors and how to embrace others. One such emotion is covetousness or jealousy. As was explained in one of the commentaries- covetousness, the jealous longing for someone else’s possession is a form of idolatry. One becomes obsessed with obtaining that object or at least very annoyed and angry that one doesn’t have it. As an emotion it becomes obsessive and can be quite negative and ugly.

How true is that? I know that I must not be the only one that in seeing someone with a certain item, I think I wish I had one. (If it weren’t true then the billions of dollars spent on endorsements and advertisements would be for naught.) I then will search high and low for said similar item. So much unproductive wasted time and energy.

To counter that emotion, one needs to practice thanksgiving. Or in our modern day parlance- gratitude. Years before it has become the psychological thing, Paul, the former Jewish teacher/ Christian missionary was reminding people to do so. It is again the reminder to focus on what one has and not on what one doesn’t. When one is thankful, one can see all the blessings. In a sense, seeing one’s blessings, begets seeing another, and so on and so on…

What about you? Has the green monster ever reared its ugly head? What prompted it to do so? How did you (or did you) combat it?

Thanksgiving. Gratitude. It is such a simple thing yet it so difficult to do on a daily basis. We can become so bombarded with being green that we forget that there are other beautiful colors around.