Maggie's Farm

One can be accused of being envious when one expresses annoyance at well-connected idiots getting better jobs than one’s own (smarter) children. Or when beat in a job application by the boss’ best friend’s son. Or when one’s (better) work is shoved aside and that of the trophy bride displayed instead...

Nevertheless, I agree that one should not snap and snarl when someone else surpasses one in talent and produces something better. Saul felt inadequate and afraid of being replaced because of David’s superior martial prowess, at a time when David was still devotedly loyal to him. Being wickedly, cruelly envious had a bad result in Saul’s case (for Saul). Ate him up alive.

But there are times when a person unfairly gains something and one’s natural fury is NOT envy. About all you can do then is resolve to work twice as hard and get gone from that place. It does no good to whine about it, but it’s NOT wicked to be annoyed about it and to vent to family and friends briefly before moving on...I write this as someone who has been wacked by corrupt hiring and promotion practices, but also as someone who managed to find interesting and useful things to do anyway by being in the right place at the right time. Or: in the wings, available to help, when Mr Promoted-Above-Ability buggered up the work so badly that bosses had to call on someone who actually knew what they were doing.

The only solution to envy or righteous indignation at the unfairness of the world imho is to do the best work one can with one’s God given talents, and be satisfied if one has done the work faithfully and well. In a wicked world one may never receive praise or reward from others, but God sees how one has worked. And His opinion is the only one we should be concerned about (easier said than done, as I brood grumpily even now about something I felt more qualified for than the person who got it—of course as a wretched sinner, I over-value my own skills!). But I do believe that if one’s conscience is reasonable, that one has done own’s best, it doesn’t matter if others are more successful or famous.