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From Admiration To Jealousy – Josh Journal

A vital lesson that has stuck with me over the years is that the distance from admiration to jealousy is shorter than the distance from my thumb to my pinkie finger.
In my opinion, they are two sides of the same coin.

To admire is to estimate or value something or someone highly. It is to hold them in high esteem.
To be jealous meanwhile is to be envious. It is to be feeling resentful or angered toward someone for a perceived advantage or success, material or otherwise.

Most times, when we see someone get successful in an endeavor, we applaud and admire them.
We can see and appreciate the effort they have put in. If it is something we want for ourselves, we use them as an example of what we can achieve.

Some of us calculate how we can put in the work they put in, to get the result they got.
Others use them as a point of contact. They pray to God and say, “what you have done for them, also do for me.”

While we admire them, all is good. We do not hesitate to hail them, associate with them, use them as examples to others, and recommend them for bigger and better positions.
The dime drops when we start to think we are probably better than them.

After witnessing someone get things we want repeatedly, we suddenly want to be them.
If we know exactly what they did, and we have done the same or even more, then we begin to ask, why them and not us?

We have gone from the healthy to the unhealthy. The line between admiration and jealousy has been crossed.
Now we begin to wish ill upon them. We want what they have and do not mind them losing things they’ve worked for or been bestowed with, even if they lose it unfairly.

Most times, we are not even aware when we stopped being admirers and jumped on the jealousy bandwagon.
Now we are the ones telling others how non-exceptional they actually are. How we can do it too. Why we would be a better option.

We are not selling ourselves, instead, we are trying to sell them short. Digging into their past, bad-mouthing their work, attacking their character and personality.
At this point, we are not different from witches and murderers.

We might have not murdered them, but we have attempted murdering their work and person.
Whatever is gained from this jealousy-fueled campaign is a product of hatred, wickedness, and iniquity. Long as it may last, it is never going to end well.

Trusting in God, time, and your ability to make room for you will serve better than hating and being jealous of others.
The strength you expend in bringing others down will serve you better by improving yourself and being more tactical.

Respect the effort and success of others. When you get successful, you would hope to be admired rather than being a victim of a jealousy-tinged rage.
The seeds you plant today would always rain fruit on you when the time comes.
Would you reap the gentle breeze of admiration or the whirlwind of jealousy?

Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator, and Creative Writer.
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