Insights from Chapter 3–

Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.

Do not strive with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

Do not envy the oppressor,
And choose none of his ways;

Proverbs 3:29-31

These three verses seem to serve as metaphors for my personal interactions with three different categories of people.

The first being people that are in my life, but fill a passive role. They’re pleasant people; pleasant to be around– we have genuine conversation in passing but our lives don’t overlap much beyond the surface.

The second group are folks who are more or less “on my level” in the sense that we may be pursuing similar goals, or have a similar level of ambition. Maybe we’re both the kind of people who are used to being invited to academic honor societies and leading in certain environments.

And the third group the “Theys” that seem to make the rules. They seem to have all the money; they seem to attract all the women (or men); They are a little bit cocky. These are people that I may not like necessarily, but I low key like what they got.

But let’s focus on the second group…

I’ve been in many situations where people have strived– or striven?– against me for no apparent reasons. It’s those situations where you have an acquaintance of some sort– maybe a coworker, family member, or friend-of-a-friend– who seems to be competing with you for no reason.

Even though we have a common mission; common goal with many opportunities to go around, they seem threatened by my presence and try their darndest to strive against every proposal, and to downplay every achievement, and to disregard every good point.

Maybe you’ve experienced something like that too.

This is what I consider to be striving with a man without cause.

Envy and jealousy can sneak up on even the best of us; and it takes some self-awareness and uncomfortable honesty to make sure that we’re not overtaken by it.

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