The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

“Happiness does not depend on what you have or what you are, it solely relies in what you think.”
                                                                                                                         - Buddha

     As humans we are more interested in what others possess and forget to count our own blessings. And, with that we invite unhappiness and troubles in our life; and along comes depression, anxiety, frustration, envy, etc.

     Most of the time, the reason for the grass being greener on the other side is jealously. The reasons for jealousy can be many like low self-esteem, feelings of insecurity or shame and neuroticism. It is one of the natural and instinctive emotions; it isn’t something, which can be controlled easily. The feeling of jealousy is not as threatful as the drive that it gives birth to, which torments oneself with self-critical thoughts and the drive to achieve the object of envy.

     Our mind gets preoccupied with another person’s life and lifestyle and loses touch of our own reality. Psychoanalysis has given a concept of acceptance of reality, which holds peace of mind, inner security and better mental health. This attitude affects our mental health because we deny looking at positives in our own life and rather start to loose focus, hope and self-confidence by berating our self.

     When we see the grass in our front yard is not growing, as it should, or when we see brown patches and grass turning yellow, we don’t change the house. Instead, first of all we take out all the weeds (get rid of negativity) from the garden and then aerate the soil (ready to take different perspective), then put seeds (focus), fertilizer (hope) and water (self-confidence). And in couple of days we will see a lawn, which would be greener than any other side.

     The perception of ‘greener on the other side’ is not all negative; if used a right lens, what it does is that it motivates us and makes us achieve higher goals than we actually think we can. It makes us strive to be a better person if taken in a positive and constructive way. If we want to be happy, being mindful is important. Noticing the good in our life and embracing what we have will keep reminding us how rich our life is.

      Please let me know how you like the post and if you have any suggestions. I have good topics and content lined up!