NEVER HATE.

People Watching: When Their Success Makes Your Eyes Bright or Green

I never hated. I just worked and waited, patiently.

I studied the word daily. I wrote notes to God. I wrote down what I wanted for my life, and then I did the work behind the scenes.

One of the biggest things I had to overcome was the “It doesn’t matter, I’mma die anyway” mentality.

I had to stop using the fact that life is temporary as an excuse not to fully live it.

I got to WORK.

Somewhere along this journey, I learned something about people watching.

We all do it.

We watch people build businesses. Buy houses. Get married. Travel. Graduate. Change careers. Heal. Glow up.

Walk into rooms we wish we were in.

Watching people can do one of two things to you: It can make your eyes bright with hope or green with envy.

The difference is what you allow their success to produce inside of you.

When your eyes are bright with hope, you can look at somebody winning and think, God, if You made a way for them, I know there are possibilities for me too.Their success becomes evidence, not competition.

When your eyes become green with envy, you start asking different questions.

Why them? How did they get that? They aren't better than me. I should be further along.

That's where people watching becomes dangerous.

Now you're so busy studying somebody else's life that you've stopped studying your own assignment. I had to learn to watch differently.

Instead of being jealous of someone's discipline, I studied it.

Instead of envying someone's business, I studied how they built it.

Instead of becoming discouraged because somebody was further ahead, I reminded myself that I didn't know how long they had been working behind the scenes.

That's when people watching became motivation. I started asking myself: What can this teach me?

Then I went back to work. I prayed. I wrote. I planned. I studied.

I worked when nobody was clapping. I worked when nobody understood the vision. I worked when the results didn't match the effort yet.

Most importantly, I stopped believing that somebody else's blessing meant there was less available for me.

What's for me doesn't have to be taken from somebody else.

Sometimes God will allow you to see somebody living something close to what you've been praying for ; not to make you jealous, but to remind you that what you're asking for is possible.

So when you're people watching, pay attention to your heart.

Are their accomplishments making you bitter ,or making you believe? Are you secretly hoping they fail,or are you taking notes?

Are you comparing, or are you learning?

You can spend years watching everybody else live, or you can allow what you see to awaken something inside of you.

I chose to let my eyes get bright. Bright with possibility. Bright with faith.

Bright with the belief that my life could change if I was willing to change with it. I wrote down what I wanted.

I talked to God about it. Then I put action behind those prayers.No hate. No racing. No competing.

Just faith, patience, discipline and WORK. So yes, I'm people watching. I'm not watching to see who I can become jealous of.

I'm watching to remind myself of what's possible.

Then I'm getting back to work.

To My Sons:

You never have to hate on anyone in life. What God has for you is yours, and no one else’s success can take away from your purpose.

Celebrate others, stay humble, work hard, and keep your heart pure. Never compare your journey to someone else’s. Your time will come. Walk with confidence, kindness, and integrity. Let your character speak louder than jealousy ever could. Keep growing, keep believing, and always choose love over hate.