Yesterday morning we woke up to the news that our Olympic skier won her medal! Congratulations to her! Well deserved! Yes, she wanted the gold, but bronze is certainly nothing to scoff about!

Or is it?

The same people who were commenting all over social media about how much she deserved to lose because she didn’t have the same political ideas as they have are now talking about her being a loser because she lost the gold and only got bronze!

Seriously? Talk about people who have nothing better to do with their life!

But these people are not only haters, they’re jealous. And jealous people will sometimes go out of their way to put people down because they envy them so much. Their jealousy takes over and begins to consume them.

In this particular case, they’re jealous of a young woman who has worked almost all her life at a sport she loves, becoming without a doubt one of the best in her field. Like other Olympians, she trains hard, fights through pain and injury, and continues to work at what she loves to become the very best she can be. She’s won countless awards for skiing during her career, and this Olympics is most likely her last one before she retires.

And she won a bronze medal! Yes, she trained and wanted the gold so bad she could taste it, but she WON, not the prize she aspired, but she’s still a winner!

To her detractors, could YOU do that? Let’s see you try! I know I certainly couldn’t do it. But I enjoyed watching her live her dream. Not many of us get that same opportunity.

Jealousy is a powerful human emotion. It’s also a negative emotion, and very often aligns itself with its best friend Hate to take out its wrath of envy on those that are successful in doing something they love.

Why? Are they that insecure? That they have to put others down to make themselves look better, look more important? It does just the opposite, you know.

Jealousy can be all-consuming, if we allow it. That’s not healthy. It can totally ruin our lives. And sometimes other people’s lives.

It’s not referred to as “the green-eyed monster” for no reason.

All of us at one time or another have been a bit envious, a bit jealous of other people for one reason or another.

Jealous of the one who gets a promotion we think is undeserved. How do we know it’s undeserved? Obviously the supervisor thought it was deserved.

Jealous of someone selected for a position we don’t think they’re qualified for or don’t deserve. And they may not; but someone thought they did.

Or maybe you’re jealous that someone you know just bought a home, or a car, like you want, but can’t afford. “Why them?” you ask. “Why not me?” Maybe they’ve worked harder, saved more money than you. Maybe you should adjust things you’re doing to be able to do the same.

Maybe you’re jealous that friends are taking a vacation to somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, but you’re staying home.

Or you’re secretly jealous of your best friend who’s getting married…and you’re not even dating anyone. You put on a good show, but down inside that green eyed monster is clawing at your insides, just waiting to jump out and strike.

Or you’re jealous of someone you think is prettier than you are, has better hair, a nicer body, etc.

Yes, jealousy happens all the time. In both big and small ways.

But when taken to the extreme, it can become debilitating. It can turn into depression. Anger. Or if left unchecked, even violence.

Jealousy can happen when we don’t feel good about ourselves, for any number of reasons. Or when we think we’re owed something in life that others seem to be getting and we’re not.

It’s a natural human emotion. But certainly not a healthy one. And when that jealousy turns into hate towards others, you start to lose yourself, your sense of reality, and enter into a dark place that’s definitely not where you want to be.

And jealousy leads you nowhere. It holds you back from becoming what you want to be, who you want to be, because your energy is so focused on someone else and what they have, you lose sight of what you have, and what you want to be.

Jealousy is a green eyed monster that can devour you, if you’re not careful.

Are you going to let that happen, or are you going to tell that green eyed monster to go away? And concentrate on making yourself into the person you want to be.

Not someone you’re jealous of.

I’ve always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles. There’s something about putting all the pieces together that just intrigues me. It’s somewhat of a challenge, but when I connect the right piece to the inside of the puzzle I just feel a sense of accomplishment. Then I move on to looking for the next one.

Over the years I’ve done a lot of them, but never knew what to do with them after they were completed. After all, it just isn’t right to tear them apart again and put them back in the box, all disconnected again.

And for my fellow jigsaw puzzle fanatics, don’t you just hate it when you get near the end and discover there’s a piece or two MISSING!? For a true puzzle fan, that’s the worst!

Fortunately I’ve discovered there are jigsaw puzzle apps for my iPad, and I can even upload my own pictures on them. It’s actually like jigsaw puzzle heaven…and there are never any pieces getting lost. And you can work them as many times as you like, and in any number of combinations of pieces, depending on how much of a challenge you want to give yourself; how complex you want your puzzle to be.

What does this have to do with today’s blog you may ask?

Well…..

One evening when I was working on a puzzle it occurred to me that we can easily be compared to one of these jigsaw puzzles. A very complex one, especially the older we get.

We’re each a very complex being, made up of a lot of individual parts that have to fit together. And fit perfectly. We cannot be complete without missing even one part, no matter now tiny that part may be. Just like a jigsaw puzzle when there’s just one more part to insert in place; without that part correctly in place there’s a glaring hole that prevents our work from becoming a finished project.

But we usually don’t realize we have all the pieces we need to be complete. We always seem to think we need just one more thing to make us complete, a finished product. A different job. A different house. A new car. A new love interest because the current one is getting boring. Another pair of shoes when our closet is already full. A new cell phone even though the one we have is only a year old, because we have to have the latest and greatest.

And that will make our puzzle complete.

Until we actually get that thing we just had to have. And discover there’s still a piece missing. Or so we think. And the search begins again.

But even though we think there’s something missing, the Master Puzzlemaker who designed us didn’t leave even one part out. Not even a tiny one. The parts are all there, and not able to be lost; we just may not have them arranged together just right.

When you’re working that jigsaw puzzle there are a lot of possible places to put the pieces. You may think you’ve found just the right place, but that piece just won’t quite fit properly. You try to force it, but what happens? It pops right out.

Puzzle shapes are similar in every puzzle. It’s the image on them that’s different; that makes it even more difficult to figure out where they go, because sometimes those images on those pieces seem to fit in several places.

In our own situation, we can change what we look like, how we dress, or where we live. But all of the pieces of our lives still have to fit together.

There’s only one way to make all the pieces fit together; to make that puzzle into YOU. And that’s by looking at yourself…really looking. Looking at who you are as a person, and not at the things you possess. Your material possessions are not who you are.

You may think there are pieces of your life that are missing, fallen out of that puzzle box, but those pieces are what’s found inside of you. They aren’t material possessions that can get lost or stolen, but who you really are. Your faith, your beliefs. How you treat people; your care and concern for others; setting an example for those around you by your actions and how you live your life. Those actions and similar traits are the most important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is your life.

You may not even know all of the pieces are there; you may not recognize them. They may even be somewhat out of place. But without them being where they belong your puzzle isn’t complete.

But how do you figure out where those puzzle pieces are supposed to go?

That’s where it gets tricky; a lot trickier than those actual jigsaw puzzles. Because it requires looking inside yourself and doing some soul searching. Asking yourself what that misplaced piece is, and then looking for it and putting it where it should be. Where it makes everything complete.

Chances are the hardest part will be figuring out what’s really misplaced in your life, in yourself. That, unfortunately, I can’t help you with.

Only you can answer that question.

But when you do, the puzzle that is you will come together beautifully.

So what does your personal jigsaw puzzle look like?

“But Lord my problems are way, way too big for me to handle. I just can’t do it.”

Have you ever felt that way? I know I have. Many times.

But I still got up every morning and tried. Sometimes it was all I could to to get my head off the pillow, sit up, and put one foot on the floor in front of the other.

Sometimes it felt like my feet were stuck in molasses, and just the act of pulling one out of that sticky mess in order to put it down a few inches ahead took more effort than I thought it was worth.

But every day is a step towards your goal. It may be a tiny step, and you may not even begin to see where that step takes you, but it’s a step forward.

Each day you take another one, and another.

The trick is not to take one backwards. Which can be very tempting, especially when you don’t see those steps taking you anywhere.

Think about what happens when a child starts walking. They try, very tentatively at first, holding on to something, and try to put that little foot in front of the other. It’s only a half step, but they try. And usually fall.

But they keep trying. Half steps. Tiny little steps. Not getting very far at first. But they keep trying. Because they don’t ever think they can’t do it. They just keep trying because instinctively they know it’s how to get ahead and make their lives better!

They keep trying, a few steps at a time. And when they fall, they get back up and keep on trying. They have no preconceived idea that they can’t do it.

And one day all their hard work pays off as they stand up, take those steps, and not only walk, but run!

They never look back. They don’t go back to crawling again instead of walking or running. Because they know the best way to get where they’re going is putting one foot in front of the other and plunging ahead.

So what about us? Why is it so hard for us to sometimes put that one foot in front of the other? So hard to start moving ahead to where we’re going? Or where we want to go.

Like the toddler starting out walking for the first time, we fall down. But sometimes instead of getting back up we decide to just stay where we fall. Because it’s easier than putting forth the effort it takes to get moving again.

We say we want to, but it’s just so much effort. It’s easier to stay stuck in that molasses and go no further. And watch everyone else move on; move ahead with their lives.

It’s easy to think that, “They don’t know all the struggles I’ve had. How hard it’s been. How difficult life has been these past few weeks/months/years. They haven’t had to go through all that….”

Really? Ah, but how do you know? You just didn’t see their struggles, their battles to put one foot in front of the other and start moving ahead again. You didn’t see them falling down time after time and fighting to get back up and keep on going.

You see, we all have our struggles. From time to time we’ve all gone though those individual battles, and some of us probably will again.

But we all come through it the same way. By getting up each morning and putting that one foot in front of the other, and forging ahead. It may not be a quick journey, but as long as we keep moving forward, nothing can stop us.

Nothing can stop you. Tomorrow morning, get up. Put your feet on the floor and put one foot in front of the other. And keep walking.

The journey of a thousand miles always starts with a single step.

Where is your journey going to take you?