Many of us would have heard of the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". Many times, we envy the lives of others. We compare our positions, wants, desires, achievements to that of others. It happens to most of us, no matter how old we are, or where we come from. However, what we see on the surface may not be the entire story.
What happens exactly on the other side that we don't see on the surface? First we don't see the struggle that others have been through to reach that level. Because we only see the results, we don't notice the causes. Many times, this occurs not only when we compare ourselves to our people. It is also true for our own behaviors. We only see one side of the picture. We fear the results of many things, yet we still do the same things which lead to that result. For example, we know drink driving or text driving can be fatal, yet we still drink drive or text drive. Only when accidents occur, and lives are lost, we regret our actions. So, we have to see the entire picture to understand a situation.
This is the same for the greener grass. We did not notice the causes that lead up to the result. The gardener could be hardworking, taking care of the grass every day, feed it with water, nutrients, and even struggled to let it grow into a fine grass. Because we only see the results, we do not know the struggle of the gardener. If we considered these factors, we would look at other people with compassion, and praise them instead of envying them. They could have struggled for years to get to this level. For example, we don't see the failures of successful people in their CV or resume. But if we ask them, they would certainly tell us they have failed many times. However, they do not give up. They kept trying until they succeed.
Another point we do not notice is that greener grass needs more water and nutrients to survive. The upkeep for greener grass is higher. Take a look at the grass on football fields. They are very green. However, the amount of money need just to maintain that level of greenness is very high. The maintenance is high too. It is very tiring for the caretaker to look after the grass daily. Hence the struggle too. If we understand this, would we still want to bathe in the glory of the green grass?
What we are after, is actually wealth, fame, pride, recognition, and glory. We want all the attention given to us like how we at first see the greener grass and envy it. What we do not want is the hard work, and suffering associated with it. We want all the good things, but we do not want to work for it. Yet, we want to take shortcuts. However, there are not shortcuts in life. Understanding cause and effect, and causes and conditions, we will understand that everything occurs just as it is. There are things which we cannot control, and sometimes we are just lucky in addition to the hard work.
Knowing all these, would we still want to go to the greener side? Ask ourselves if we have give our 100% at what we are doing. By that I mean, putting down our ego, and not giving excuses for opportunities. An opportunity which you think "This is not my kind of thing", could be that opportunity you need to get to the greener side. If you have given your best, but still are on the duller side, be content with it. Even the duller side has its beauty.
The question we should ask ourselves is, "Is my grass today greener than yesterday?"