Haters Going To Hate

Day 55 – There is nothing worst than jealousy, except for pride and the complete lack of humility.

It is only because jealousy is a byproduct of pride that it can be worse. Pride creates jealousy, therefore it is always one step ahead.

Jealousy is the reason for all other sins, giving its creator pride the title of “the greatest sin.” As C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity “it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice.” Very true.

Lewis continues “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice…the vice I am talking of is Pride.”

Some would argue that I lack humility. I don’t see it, but then again, as Lewis writes, I probably wouldn’t admit it even if I did. Still, I don’t find myself overly successful therefore I have no reason to be prideful. Some things in this world make me very happy and when I find them, I share them in hopes that others can find happiness also. If I were prideful, I would want to house the happiness to myself so that I could look down upon everyone else. I don’t.

There are those that do… many of them. Those who want to be better than everyone else. And when they aren’t, they hate. They hate everyone who is doing better than themselves. They hate seeing other people more happy, or with more money, or more clients, or more anything. They want to be the best at everything, all the time.

When they aren’t, they toss stones. They talk smack. They do everything they can to tear you down.

This year I’m weeding them out of my life.

A few weeks back my buddy Matt Nichols posted this study on his Facebook walk stating that he was going to weed all the toxic people out of his life. I’ve decided to join him:

“They belittle and backbite and drive us batty with their soul-sucking behavior. Who are these hideous people? Our … um … friends, according to a joint survey conducted by TODAY.com and SELF magazine.

We asked our readers to come clean about these prickly — and at times, poisonous — relationships and got an earful from 18,000 women and 4,000 men.

In fact, 84 percent of women — and 75 percent of men — said they’d had a toxic friend at some point, with 1 in 3 survey takers fessing up to a toxic BFF.”

Let’s all get these toxic haters out of our lives. They just aren’t good for us. Hell, they aren’t even good for themselves.

Sure, many of our friends are haters, but it goes far beyond friendships into the professional realm. That’s where most of the hate is happening. And while you can choose whom you hang out with outside of your career, you still have to deal with these clowns in professional life.

Or do you?

I don’t think so. There are always those instances when you just won’t be able to avoid it, but for me, I’m done with it. I’m going to let the haters hate. And while I’d like to see them shed their pride and become happy at some point in their lives, for now I’m just going to go on living everyday to the fullest. I’ll let the Negative Nancys do their thing.