“Healthy Envy,” Admiration & Resentment

I envy people that have been blessed with greater gifts than me.  What other response could I have?  But that is the extent of my thought on the subject.  Wow, wouldn’t it be nice to have been as smart, athletic, talented as another?  Sure.  Then, I move on.  I try not to resent these people for these gifts, nor do I admire them.  There is nothing admirable about accepting what was simply provided via a lucky draw from the gene pool.  Nor is it anything to be derided or resented.  It simply “is.”  No choice or entitlement was in play.

Yet it seems that so much energy is wasted in either taking undue pride in one’s own fortunate circumstance or in resenting someone born into such circumstances.   What a waste.  So my thought, neither resent nor admire another based solely on the things they were provided without effort or merit.  Rather, admire [or not] another for the choices they make and how they utilize whatever the talents they were provided.  It may well be that the soldier manning his post, the dad working two jobs, the single mom struggling to make ends meet, the special-needs child struggling just to walk or make a friend, or the average student bringing home a prized  “B,” are far more worthy of our admiration than the most highly touted athlete or entertainer basking in the glory of their circumstance.