Abraham Lincoln knew the threats he was having was because of the envious nature of his opposition. He advice his son’s teacher to try as much as possible to steer his son away from envy so that in the future, his son would not stand as encumbrance to useful development that would have benefitted the people.
While it is good to desire something good, we should not lose our head when we do not get what we want and our neighbors do get it. Humans are very susceptible to this. “Why should that man get that and I have not gotten it,” they would say. No, no, that should not happen.
Humans want everything good for themselves and would often feel bad when they can’t get it. Children are most susceptible to this attributes. They often grow with this attributes if not checked, and become a nuisance to the society, fighting when offered less than the offer given to the other person.
Children often want bigger share. They want to stand out from their peers and considered different from the crowd. While this attribute is good in some way, it also has its negative effect. It leads to discontentment. Children have to be content. Parents have to develop in their wards this virtue as they grow so that they could often be able to make do with the little in their disposal.
Parents should nurture their children in such a way that they consider the little offered them as much and they do not look at what others have. At home, there should not be any room for competition. Treat all the children in the family equally with no one given preferential treatment over the other.
At school, teachers are to encourage hardwork while creating the environment for creative open competition where everyone has equal chance to the prize. The teacher motivates every student as much as possible to see any competitive opportunity as not a do or die affair.
They have to inculcate in the students the fact that pride does not pay. Rather, everyone learns to celebrate the victories of each other while they should also encourage them to aim higher towards achieving the success the other person has attained.
Abraham Lincoln realized that envy also kills creativity. By looking at the achievements of the man, how he has done it, and being envious, you lose the creativity and originality that could have creatively given you the extra edge.
Competition is great. It builds the right environment for the promotion of talent. However when envy comes into it, the air of competition is lost, hatred is built, and love lost. Competition is to build interaction and create aspiration.
Teachers should encourage and educate their students that losing to any one is not the end of the road. Rather it means that there is need for more work input. Admonish the students to strive to develop themselves so that they can stand ahead of their peers rather than stalk their lips in envy of those who have gotten what they have gotten through hardwork.
Children do not like to see their mates surpass them. They want to be the best and the first. This is a great attribute but parents and teachers should be cautious in guiding their wards. They must bring to fore in the interaction with their wards the need to respect the other students, study hard and offer help to other students.
Children must recognize that when they envy, they close the door of opportunity from those they are envious.