The common saying is “The grass is always greener... on the other side of the fence.”
The image of dehydrated grass seemed particularly odd to me. Considering how much it rains during the summer months, the thought of seeing harvest-yellow blades of earth aggressively protruding from the malnourished soil, somehow feels, well, ersatz. I don’t exactly know how else best to describe it. A pale imitation of the real thing. It just feels plain wrong. It’s only a certain patch though. It’s not like whole swaths of grass as far as the eye can see, are lacking in proper hydration. The ones in my immediate vicinity and ocular purview are just particularly ugly and unflattering to the sharp human eye.
The common saying is “The grass is always greener... on the other side of the fence.” Or, if you’re thinking in more animated, acid-flashback, nautical terms, “The Algae’s Always Greener”, as per one of the best Sponge-Bob episodes ever made. It’s very easy for us to look across the way at those around us with angry eyes full of jealous daggers. Our neighbor’s backyard might be bigger in scope and scale, with nicer trees planted more deeply and flowers more vibrantly styled.
Jealousy is a natural human emotion. There’s nothing inherently wrong with feeling green with envy. We all do it. I do it. You do it too. It just means we’re human. To err is human. The important thing to remember is that you need to take care of yourself first and foremost. People might view that as selfish, but it’s important to take care of yourself. You matter just as much as the next person beside you. There’s a reason The Fab Five all tell everyone why self-care is so important.
While it might seem like your neighbors are thriving with abundance aplenty, you aren’t a mind-reader. There’s absolutely no way to tell what a person’s thinking. Unless they tell you outright. Or you’re reading a great novel. Just because someone may seem to be more well off than you, doesn’t necessarily dictate that they're happier than you by default on any account. Happiness, by its very nature is ephemeral. It’s fleeting and temporary. Nothing good lasts forever. That’s what makes it feel so powerful and mean so much.
Instead of looking at the greater, greener grass in the far-off distance, look down at your own feet. Breathe in the air around you. Take stock of what you do have and what you still need to acquire. It won’t happen overnight; no change is that instantaneous. Sadly, that’s just a fact of the case. A fact of the world. But with a mixture of equal parts time, patience, dedication and integrity, the change will happen.
I promise you. The sun will shine brighter, the water will flow my freely and the grass will grow more greenly. Wait. Is “greenly” a word? If it’s not, then it sure should be. Greener! That’s the word I was thinking of. The grass will grow greener, once you first take care of yourself.
Mary-Jane
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