Green with Envy?

I love my life…everything about it. I’m blessed to have such a wonderful family who would do anything for me. I have a warm, safe, comfortable home to live in (free of charge I might add…perks of living at home with the ‘rents while I’m in law school!). I have a vehicle to drive, a part time job as a fitness instructor (a life goal of mine, actually), and I am grateful to be in law school. I have nice things (okay, I’ll admit…I’m a shopaholic), and I get to do lots of fun things with family and friends most of the time…when I’m not doing law school work. Ha ha.

So why do I always look for something more? Why do I always see what someone else has and think, hmm, I really wish that were me? I think that envious feeling is an innate human quality (or maybe that isn’t the right word…?) but I think we all experience it. I find myself sometimes wishing I was driving that new BMW or buying an entire wardrobe of Michael Kors and  Marc Jacobs clothing (they’re my DREAM TEAM). I dislike that feeling so much, because sometimes it makes me feel like I’ll never get there, to that level. Of wealth. Of success. Of happiness. But wait…did I basically just say that money and labels equal happiness??? Unfortunately, I’ve found myself thinking that from time to time. Its pretty sad that I catch myself thinking that status equals happiness. I’ve been working on changing that view…by reminding myself of all the things that really make me happy. A weekend road trip with my family, walking on the beach at night, running outside on a cool day, relaxing on the couch with my boyfriend after a long day, going out with friends, photography, unwinding with yoga…the list goes on. Yes, some of those things do cost money, but the benefits of being a part of all of those things far outweighs the costs that are incurred to do them. I’m getting older, but I still have a lot to learn. I’d like to think that I look at life from a fairly mature standpoint nowadays…I know that when I was 17, 18, even 19, I had a difficult time seeing that there are greater things in life than mere status symbols like money and labels.

That was pretty deep, I know…haha. I have just been doing my best to always look at the joy in the small things in life, because they tend to mean the most. I’m still learning to appreciate a lot of those things, but one thing I do know is that the loving and caring nature of my family and friends is what makes my world spin around, and money can’t buy that :)

-xoxo