Apparently, the grass is always greener on the other side.
I never really understood this phrase when I was little, I would always think to myself, “the grass at my house is green too, isn’t all grass green?”
It wasn’t until I was older that I understood that the phrase was a metaphor for somebody else having it better than you; a better job, a better car, just a better life in general; their circumstances are more desirable than your own.
A friend and I were discussing our lives recently, admitting aspects that we were jealous of in each other’s existence. And we found that what we were jealous of was something that the other person didn’t think was a good point in their own lives. She was jealous of the time I had to do things as I am currently only working in the evenings; I don’t think it is an enviable trait as I spend my time job-hunting, trying to find a way to progress forward in my life; I’m no lady of leisure.
And I was jealous of the way she seemed to be strolling through life, busy, but moving forward, getting things done; but she felt that because she came late to starting her degree that she’ll be old old old before she could get her dream job.
It’s funny how you don’t see the positive in your own life. It’s the grass-is-always-greener philosophy of life. You plod along, not realising the positive in your life, underappreciating the good, thinking that everyone else has it better, or is doing a better job at life than you are.
Why do we always think that someone has it better off than we do? Why do we just assume that everybody is luckier than ourselves?
For when you look closely, and speak honestly, you can see that others are not walking around in a blissfully happy, life-can’t-get-any-better haze; they are facing struggles and difficulties you know nothing about.
So when you are looking over that metaphorical garden fence, remember to look closely for that dead patch of grass, it will never be completely lush and green. And then take another look at your own grass, you’ll probably find that it is a lot greener than you originally thought.
My childlike naivety, that all grass is green, is probably the best thing to think of when you find yourself spending too long admiring somebody else’s grass.
Just stop comparing them and realise that your life is just as great; show real gratitude for what you do have in life. Comparison is the thief of joy after all.
