One of you blog readers has asked me to write about envy. I’m not a very envious person, which I guess is why this hasn’t come up. This I attribute mostly to my attitude, since I learned early on that comparison is the thief of joy.

Sure, I’d like a slimmer figure, more financial liquidity, a studio where I could paint huge canvases, a bathtub I could fit in, a pantry, a walk in closet, or even a sauna. But I’m not envious of those who have those things. I am truly delighted for them, and am even more appreciative of it, because I know that lack.

I am also cognizant that there are many who have much less than I do. I won the birth jackpot, since I was welcomed by educated parents in America, instead of for example, to war torn refugee parents, subsisting in a tent in a third world country. My husband and I may have had many financially strapped years due to our vocational choices, but we were never living in a jungle or dugout with dirt floors. I may have chaffed at being overweight, never losing a single pound on diets that others easily got thin on, but thankfully, I’ve at least always been robustly healthy, something many others crave so much.

The point is we can always find someone who has either more or less than ourselves, so I find it rather pointless to dwell on. I’d rather focus on progress for everyone, including myself. I believe good is expansive. I do not see life as a pie with only a certain number of pieces.

To me, Life springs from infinitude, and there is always enough infinity to go around.  When someone else has some good I don’t seem to have, that just proves that good is a present possibility for me and everyone. They’ve just realized that aspect of available providence, which I haven’t yet. Contrariwise, it is likely that I’ve demonstrated different blessings than they have, which they can look forward to in some way. We can trust things will work out, we just don’t always know how, which is what makes life an adventure.

Spiritually, I think we all have a complete set of Godlike qualities and attributes to call upon and express. That is the ultimate reason not to be envious. Each of us are equally equipped spiritually, while having different challenges to apply that to. There is not a single one of us with nothing to overcome, while all of us have everything we need to do exactly that. We may wish we had different challenges to defeat, but spending time thinking that will not slay our own dragons any faster. I’d rather us get on with dismantling our impositions, than contemplating different ones.

So I think envy is pointless and downward spiraling, and I choose to spend my energy on gratitude instead.  I have tons to be grateful for. I have energy, ideas, interests, abilities, paint, wonderful daughters, and a sweet husband; I am wholesome, kind, generous, colorful, mindful, exploratory, curious, and creative. I don’t take any of this for granted.

I’m aware that I need more exercise, more patience with our political process, and to step up more to fully to fulfill my capacity to help, enlighten, and inspire this struggling world. I don’t waste time coveting how others are doing those things, but just try to get on to doing it myself, step by minuscule step.

And I know of at least one blog reader that loved, read, shared, commented and financially supported this blog for years, who stopped reading it because she felt that she was pressing her nose against the window pane, never measuring up. This is very distressing to me. I hope I’ve done nothing to engender that response, but I’m glad she stopped doing what was making her feel bad about herself.

Instead, I hope this blog inspires you to embrace more of what only you can do, by seeing how I approach what I do. As you watch me baby-stepping over here, appreciating and being grateful for all the good in my life, you can see how that approach stimulates development, engenders vitality, and burgeons joy. I didn’t start where I am now either, and that’s a severe understatement. I feel like I’m choosing to collude with my soul’s pre-programming to rise higher and higher from a boundless beginning, and strongly desire you do it too. It is not only for the benefit of each of us, but I feel it is literally for the salvation of the world, one individual at a time.

Just start where you are and do the next thing you can do to amplify good in your surroundings. Maybe it is just to clean the kitchen sink, or get that tangle out of your hair. Start small, but steadily, consciously progress. Give your attention to what inspires you and let the rest go. Do what brings you joy, for true joy is a way-marker that you are on the right path. Give yourself a lot of room to advance slowly. Eternity is a long time to work it all out.

And rejoice with everyone else who is on the path, at whatever stage, either ahead of you or behind you. Truly we have only one earth and we are in this together. An us-versus-them attitude, a competitive consciousness, or anything comparison oriented, stemming from a personal sense premise, has absolutely no place among God’s equally beloved children.