Babies' smiles, kind words, a beautiful sunset, a brilliant accomplishment — many things, large and small, can unleash waves of happiness in us. But the exuberant joy of others can sometimes elicit from us such negative feelings as envy, jealousy, and judgmentalism. When we encounter the seeming unbridled happiness of others, we may get caught up in comparing our quotient of joy to theirs. We may imagine that joy is somehow a finite quantity and that if someone else has a lot, we'll have less. Occasionally it is difficult for us to take joy in even our own achievements if we do not value ourselves and appreciate what we have attained.
May I mindfully cultivate
gratitude
for all the blessings in my life
so that I may take delight
in others' successes
as well as my own.