Love yours

By Daniel Francis

We live in a fast-paced world where instant communication is commonplace, and you can see what your neighbour is having for breakfast with a quick perusal of their social media story.

In a world where almost everything is just a click away, it’s easy to get caught up in comparing what you have to that of others.

Social media would have you believe that success is right around the corner with five easy steps, or that your soulmate will look like this or should have these specific qualities.

This bombardment of information would be harmless if it were in small doses, but we are constantly bombarded with more and more information to the point where we are spilling over with “what ifs”.

What if I had a bigger car?

What if my wife was a little fitter?

What if I were a millionaire?

What if I had a bigger house?

We look at our neighbours, friends, co-workers, and jealousy seems to rise to the surface. We sometimes cannot help but compare or wonder what life is like on their side of the field.

Yet comparing is dangerous. We do not live our lives in a linear fashion. Everyone’s path is their own. While intricately manoeuvring through our plot of life, it is impossible to compete in life because we are all on our path. When you begin comparing your life, you begin quantifying what was not meant to be quantified.

Meanwhile, as you sit and fantasise about the life of that social media influencer you saw on Instagram, you are neglecting all the great and beautiful things in your life. You start to feel resentment for not having better while neglecting the riches God has blessed you with.

You stop truly loving yours. The current environment encourages jealousy and greed. While we mindlessly scroll and download the pristine lives that others have curated on their pages, we lose track of what is important.

“Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” Proverbs 27:4. We have God, family, shelter, safety, security, etc. The moment we begin losing contentment because of what we do not have and what others have is the moment we grow away from God.

Imagine if you cherished and expressed gratitude for all that you have in your life daily. The warmth and satisfaction you would experience for all that you have been blessed by God with, would be a steady reminder to always love yours because at any moment things could change in an instant.

This is why I love gratitude. It is a gentle positive reminder that provides healthy context.

When we focus on what others have and what we do not have, we suffer because we feel scarcity. However, when we are mindful of all that we have and are grateful for it, we experience abundance.

So, it is a choice that you have to make each day. The choice is to fall into the trap that our environment has laid for us, that is, to be jealous and greedy or to fight against that environment and be grateful for everything God has blessed us with. This includes the trials and tribulations and, of course, the blessings.

Take some time to evaluate if you constantly look at what others have in a state of jealousy and, if so, combat these feelings with gratitude.

Daniel Francis is a millennial helping other millennials. He is a two-time author of the books The Millennial Mind and The Millennial Experience, and an entrepreneur. Over the past four years, he has served as a Personal Development Coach whose work targets Millennials and helps them tap into their full potential. He is also a Self-publishing coach and has guided hundreds on self-publishing their book successfully.

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Email:

themillennialmind2020@gmail.com

Website: rebityouth.com