Awareness................

I saw an interesting interview on television last night. I would tell you who the interviewee was but I don't have a clue......and it doesn't matter. It's not who she was, but what she said. She was a young woman and had a very unique, wise perspective on life. She confessed that during her really young years.....her twenties....she delighted in other people's failures. O, they would never know it. She would be sympathetic and supportive, but inwardly she would clap silent hands. She said these failures would give HER a sense of empowerment. They would make her feel superior and she would even delight in discussing them with her friends or family members, those people whom she considered her confidantes. One day she was asked this question......Do other people's failures and your gossiping about them make YOUR life better, enhance you in any way....the ugly spewing of words that are coming out of your mouth? Do they give you strength? Do they give you wisdom? Do they give you confidence? With each question she began to see that no, in fact the opposite was true. Celebrating other people's failures took something away from her. It chipped a little piece of compassion away, it broke off a tiny bit of love, it opened a small space of entitlement. I wonder how many of us secretly delight when someone we know...or don't know......fails? I wonder if you do, are you aware of it....conscience of those small hands silently clapping within you. Think about this. Be aware. Delighting in failure is ugly. It not only changes who you are with each invisible fist raised in the air, it becomes a habit, a way of life, a character flaw. And then it becomes YOU. Live your life with joy, not hate. Walk your days with love, not envy. Be that person who cheers, not secretly whispers behind backs. Awareness of self. Change, growth, not envy and empowerment. Let your light shine WITH others not against them.