From The Guardian:

Billionaires and politicians gathering in Switzerland this week will come under pressure to tackle rising inequality after a study found that – on current trends – by next year, 1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99%.

I’ve got to say, whatever your politics are, complaining about how much money someone else has is no way to go through life. At best, that kind of envy is petty; at worst, it is a sin.

There’s an old Russian parable about two men living in a rural village. One man owns a magnificent goat that provides his family with plenty of milk. The other man has a terrible goat who produces no milk, despite eating everything in site. This man was jealous of his neighbor’s goat. One day, the man with the terrible goat finds a magic lamp with a genie inside. The genie announces that he will grant the man one wish, up to making him Czar of all Russia. The man thinks about it for a second, and tells the genie, “I want you to kill my neighbor’s goat.”

Think about that for a second: the man could have had anything he wanted: a better goat for himself, or a million pounds of gold, or the throne of Russia. But instead of focusing on himself and his own happiness, he chose to stick it to his neighbor.

That mentality will kill you. It will make you miserable in life. Comparison is the path to despair. Get off of how well other people are doing and focus on yourself and what will make you happy.

And practice the discipline of gratitude.