Confession: Do you envy people who make more than you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Oh wait, this is D.C.!

What, are you saying we're not beautiful in DC?

[Anonymous]

We're not? I have to change my lightbulbs! Damn!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

I am green with envy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

Me too. Plus, I breast fed effortlessly.

[Anonymous]

I work with high net worth clients so I see people everyday who earn more than me. I would definitely say I envy some of them (especially the ones who are young - 30's or early 40's). But I don't resent them. Sure - I would like to earn more but even if I worked longer hours - I would not be able to earn the amount of money that these people earn (usually $500k to $1 million for a single earner).

My husband and I left a large law firm many years ago. We would each be earning around $280k or so if we had stayed at the firm. But we chose lifestyle over money. (Of course if the option was $500k for each of us - we may have made a different decision!)

I don't think there is anything wrong with envy. But I don't understand the bitterness that is sometimes directed on this board towards those who make more.

[Anonymous]

I envy people who had loving parents and siblings who are not narcissistic jerks.

[Anonymous]

My BIL makes a ton of money. DH does very well, but feels competitive with his older brother. Sometimes DH makes comments that hint of jealousy or maybe just competition or his own self comparison. I have to remind him how great he has it, that life is not a competition, but more importantly... I wouldn't trade our situation for theirs any day.

SIL doesn't work, has a full time live-in nanny (the kids are in school all day, so I have no clue what she OR the nanny do with their time), she is lazy, overweight, doesn't cook or clean or take care of the house, doesn't volunteer, and is frankly, rather catty and bitchy. I attribute a lot of her negative qualities to boredom and her own feelings of a lack of self worth. (ooh, that felt good to get out).

So yes, BIL doesn't have to worry about the bills or not being able to take a great vacation (4-5 a year!) or anything like that...but we also have a roof over our heads, can pay the bills, and are just as happy spending a night in Annapolis to get away. I think DH's jealousy is more of a brotherly competition thing.

Now his retired world traveling parents who have lived wonderful fulfilling lives and are living it up with their apparently large retirement savings....YES, jealous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

Me too. Plus, I breast fed effortlessly.

I have all of the traits above plus an understated elegance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

Me too. Plus, I breast fed effortlessly.

I have all of the traits above plus an understated elegance.

The 'understated' just ran a spike through my heart. You win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

Me too. Plus, I breast fed effortlessly.

I lactate fish oils.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

Me too. Plus, I breast fed effortlessly.

I have all of the traits above plus an understated elegance.

Ditto on above, plus my three adopted leper children love my tollhouse cookies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

Me too. Plus, I breast fed effortlessly.

I have all of the traits above plus an understated elegance.

I have elegant breasts.

[Anonymous]

sorry to be boring and get us back on track... i don't envy those who MAKE more than i do, assuming they work hard for it. but i do envy people with family money, who didn't have to take out huge loans for school and who can have vacation homes and great vacations.

i resent, on the other hand, people like my SIL who don't work, put their kids in daycare, park their infant kids in front of the tv and tell themselves that it is within the AAP's recommended limits, let other people take care of their kids whenever possible, and yet dislocate their own shoulders patting themselves on the back for being a great mom, talk about how tired they are and how being sahm is so hard.

yes, i am bitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Envy, sure. Resent, usually not.

Yeah. This pretty much sums it up for me. I wish I had more financial wiggle room and could breathe easier. It isn't because I don't work my butt off. I do. If I weren't some kind of financial genius, we'd starve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We have a healthy child so far, and a relatively happy marriage. We live in a nice neighborhood and have good commutes. We have really wonderful, supportive families and my parents live relatively close by. So I think we are really lucky.

I envy people:
-who have those big, wide open kitchens I long to have
-who know how to wear their hair more than two ways (down, or back in a pony tail)
-who can get by on 6 hours of sleep
-who can cook well and love to cook
-who have great decorating skills
-who can get through the day without having a stain on their clothes
-who do not feel the need to get a drink from Starbucks almost every day
-who had the discipline and intelligence to make it through medical school
-who are really good at yoga

But not for making tons of money, though I would definitely not complain if I had MORE money (so long as we didn't have to put in more hours to get it).

I had lots of me too reading this. I agree with hair, cooking and yoga especially!
I tell my daughter when she points out every little thing her sister has or does that if she spends her life focusing on what everyone else is doing or has then she will never be happy in life. Now I do feel that touch of envy when I visit the house with more space than I know I will have in a lifetime but it passes because I feel confident and happy with my choices in life.