The grass is always greener on the other side. We always yearn for what others have but, we don’t have.
In our lives, at some or the other, we all have felt those pangs of jealousy towards others, haven’t we?
Touch your heart and see if you can vouch on it that you haven’t.
In our fit of envy, we always see the outer facets of others’ lives, and their dark depths remain hidden from us.
The same happened in the lives of Medha and Arushi, both envied each other for what they could see outwardly.
“Happy birthday, my jaan”, kissed Mr. Verma to his loving wife-Medha.
She thanked and kissed him back and ran downstairs. She was behind time today. Late-night birthday party surprise by her husband, followed by steaming hot lovemaking got her late in sleeping.
Arushi, her neighbor, who was having her coffee, was watching from her balcony their display of love towards each other and was getting green with envy. She shouted from her balcony, “Happy birthday, Medha.”
Medha looked up and thanked her with a smile on her face. She so wanted to enjoy that cup of coffee, standing leisurely on the balcony like Arushi. But, she had a job to go to.
Medha knew that Arushi and her gang always talked behind her back but could never make out the reason for their covetousness. In fact, she always envied them for being able to enjoy with each other and getting their ‘me’ time. What she never realised was their pain of giving up on small pleasures of life due to the financial crunch. Had they been working like her, they wouldn’t have to sacrifice their petty desires.
Looking at Medha’s attractive, captivating and hypnotizing personality (which Medha worked really hard to maintain), Arushi suffered from jealousy although, in front of Medha, she unsuccessfully kept the green-eyed monster at bay.
Arushi’s husband was very caring, loving but never liked the public display of love, never believed in surprises or gifts, and was a plain and simple man.
Arushi never understood that different people have different personalities and always compared her husband with Mr. Verma. She often fought with him for not throwing parties or giving surprises like Mr. Verma.
Medha, on the other hand, felt envious of Arushi for her simple, not-so-demanding lifestyle. Medha was fed up with frequent outings, parties, and surprises. She wanted a simple life with her husband and kids, with not so much glamour attached. It was for this brandishing lifestyle that she had to keep up her job which she wanted to give up to live a stress-free, simple life. She was not able to cope with the pressures of work but could not leave the job also.
Both were envious of each other. Both wanted each others’ lifestyles as both saw the outer facets of each others’ life.
Friends, be content with what you have. That is a key to happiness. We should not be happy just from outside to show the world, it’s the inner happiness that matters which we keep destroying in our envy.