Proverbial #11: Whoever unduly bothers about his peers' successes, will hustle himself to death

Hello Steemians! Welcome to another proverbial time with @smyle. Today, i will be talking about contentment through a Yoruba proverb. Africans have many wise words which have helped us correct our perspectives about life.

 The proverb today is: Ẹni tí ò mọ bí ẹgbẹ́ rẹ̀ ṣe là, á sá àsákú which means 'whoever unduly bothers about his peers' successes, will hustle himself to death'. This proverb is used to caution youths to focus their attention on what they have and live a happy life instead of worrying about the success of their friends.

Many people have theorized on the term success. The term is interpreted in different ways by different people. As youths, when we see our friends doing good, we envy them and wished we are in their shoes. I could remember how long i stayed home seeking admission to enter into the university. 

During this time, many or my friends would come back home after holiday to discuss what school life looks like. As a person, it was not easy listening to their tales. In fact, i felt life was treating me bad and there is this intimidation that revolves around all they were saying. If you have been in this situation before, you will understand what it felt like. At a time, i looked at myself and asked if school is the best thing or learning another skill (as an artisan).

During this period, many gave up to do other things and concluded that we are all looking for money. These people said they will compete with those in school in the future. They were also intimidated.

While i was in school, i met another friend who offered to give me a lift. He was just boasting about his achievements and these people have ways of giving you 'little change' to make you feel they are doing better.

But what matters in life is not where you are coming from but where you are going to. The dreams of these people might not be as big as yours. You need to think beyond your present condition because you might just die trying to chase shadow.

Some of these people got their money through fraud, scam, rituals (Africans can relate) and some did odd jobs in foreign countries. If you think their success is worth envying, then you need to be in their shoes, do what they did if you so desire their success and tell the story later!

As human beings, we need to be contented with what we have. If you face what person A faced to reach where he is, you might not survive it. Why not focus on yourself and be driven by your own goals and life plans instead of using another person's success as a yardstick to judge your life.

Don't run another man's race. Run yours and let other people talk about your success story. Be contented!

Thanks for your time.