If you’ve been to any of my live seminars or speeches, you know I post that everything begins with a thought or feeling. Thoughts and feelings then typically get transferred into language we use to communicate what we are thinking or feeling and then the next step is some sort of action. Sometimes, we spend a long time thinking and feeling something before communicating it and other times, it is mere microseconds.
It works the same way with action, some people have an action bias, in which thought and feelings get transitioned into action very quickly, other people take more time. One thing is for sure, if those thoughts and feelings remain in play, they will get acted upon to some degree.
This is why we have to watch our thinking and feeling mechanisms, because both can lead us astray. Feelings tend to change more rapidly than thoughts. You may feel one way and in a few seconds you could feel another way. Happy to sad, and conversely, for example, very rapidly.
One category we all have to watch is the thought and feeling of envy and jealousy.
To avoid the pitfalls of envy and jealousy, you have to always be grateful or be ready to transition into gratitude very quickly, if these thoughts and feelings of envy try to invade your thinking and feeling.
One tool is use for this is the Gratitude List. This is a list of what is really important to you. I keep it on every computer and mobile device I own for quick and easy access. I do not want to spend one minute of my life envying another person.
Here are a couple of reasons why:
1. My path is my own and no one else’s. The same is true of every other human being. I have created my own path and there are reasons for everything that happens to me both good and bad and I accept those things as part of my path in life. I do not want to think about how easier someone else may have it more than I do or how lucky they have been. It’s not about any of that. My path is my own and their path is their own. I admire and appreciate others for things, but I do not want to be envious.
2. Everyone comes to the end of natural life. No matter what we accomplish here in this life, we will leave it all behind. While it is important and very wonderful to leave a legacy behind, the fact is you will leave it all behind one day. No need to be envious of what someone else leaves behind, just make sure what you leave behind is worthy of the life you were given to live.
3. When you are grateful, you set yourself up for more good things to happen to you. I don’t know exactly why this works, but it does. I have made notice over the years that grateful people attract more good things and hateful people attract more negative things into their life. When we are envious, it can lead to lying, deception and even theft. Yes, we get so caught up in envy, we want those things others have that bad. Stay grateful and stay honest with yourself to keep your integrity.
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