Here is something obvious that I am too embarrassed to say – Your son gets a prestigious job – YOU celebrate; Your daughter gets the first prize in a local garba competition and YOU celebrate; Your grandfather reaches the ripe age of ninety and he is able to get up on his bed without help and YOU celebrate.
Here is something that is not so obvious:
A close friend comes along and excitedly breaks the news – ‘you know my son cleared the final engineering exam – but do we celebrate? Or just as a retort say, ‘Oh, my son got a prestigious job’
The neighbour’s wife comes rushing and announces, ‘Here is some undhiyu that my guests went ga ga over.’ Do we say, ‘Oh, you know my niece makes the best undhiyu in town, you will forget this!’
Or, instead of celebrating the old man’s birthday you hijack the issue and say, ‘ Oh, you know my great great grandfather lived up to 99 and he could read the newspaper with his bare eyes!’
We always do that, unless we are mindful of sharing their joy. Let us be honest. It requires some doing to share other’s joy and not try to be one up though we may not openly mean it.
Think.
Yes Rajendra one upmanshiip is an ingrained human trait. We must learn to listen and comment rather than react to whatever we hear
Thanks, Koundinya. The problem is that we don’t even realise it when we slip into this trait. That is why patience and being mindful are the keys