Insights from Chapter 1–
…they ambush their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.
Proverbs 1:18-19
As an entrepreneur and a business owner, I’m constantly faced with the temptation to compare myself to others…
People who are more successful than me–
People who have more money than me–
People who have a prettier girl than me– (or a girl at all!)
You get my point.
And if I don’t catch myself, then I start losing sleep stressing about how inadequate I must be, and being self-absorbed about what people must be thinking about me,
When in reality most people are too concerned about what’s going on in their own lives to remember that cringy thing I did or posted on social media.
Heck, even writing this is kinda cringe.
The point is, it’s easy for me to get caught up in the metrics of whatever I’m doing; to get caught up in the grind–
Focusing less on what I want to accomplish for myself and more on the external validation from others.
In a sense, the greed for gain doesn’t have to be material, it can also be something internal– rooted in insecurity. And getting caught up in the curated perfection of other peoples’ lives on social media only makes those insecurities stronger.
In either case, I’m seeking to fill an internal void with something outside of myself when everything I need is within.
The Kingdom of Heaven is inside you.
Translation:
Institute for Scripture Research (2009). The Scriptures.