Don't be jealous.
Zoryana was sitting on a bench in the yard, waiting for her friends to come. The day was warm and gentle, the dandelions were just beginning to bloom, and she was softly blowing on one of them.
Marinka came running first. She came running and froze in front of the bench, as if on stage.
“Look what they bought me!” she shouted.
On her feet shone brand new sneakers. Silver, with pink sparkles on the sides, with a thick white sole that bounced with every step. On the tongue was a soft star. The laces were golden.
Zoryana looked down at her feet. Her sneakers had once been white, too. Now they were grayish-white, with a green stripe on the toe where she had fallen on the grass last week. One strap was missing a Velcro strap.
Something inside her tingled. Not much. But unpleasant. As if someone had poked her right in the chest with a tiny finger.
"Good," said Zoryana. Her voice was quiet and somehow foreign.
Marinka spun on one leg, her sneakers sparkling with sparkles.
"And they glow in the dark! Look!"
And indeed, in the shadow of the tree, the soles of the shoes barely glimmered pink.
Justynka came running from the third entrance. She came running and gasped:
- Wow! Marinka, let me touch!
The girls immediately gathered around the new sneakers. And Zoryana imperceptibly moved to the side. It was as if the bench had become a centimeter longer and she a centimeter shorter.
It no longer tingled inside. It was humming inside.
«"I don't have anything like that," thought Zoryana. "The sneakers are old. The shorts are from last year. The hairpin is ordinary. I'm... just ordinary. So-so. Invisible.".
She looked at her hand. Before, this hand had seemed completely normal to her. Now it also seemed kind of boring.
Marinka and Justynka ran to jump in the classics. Zoryana didn't go. She said her leg hurt. Although her leg didn't hurt. It hurt somewhere else entirely.
She sat on the bench, pulled her knees up to her chin, and tucked her legs under her so that her old sneakers wouldn't be visible.
«"Why is everything new for her and everything old for me? Why does her dad buy this stuff for her and not for me? I want it too. I want to shine too.".
At that moment, something fluffy swayed nearby. Zoryana turned her head. At the very edge of the bench, on the wooden railing, sat a little red squirrel. In a pink scarf. With an acorn in its paws.
Zoryana wasn't even surprised. She was too sad to be surprised.
"Hello," the squirrel said quietly. "I'm Solomiyka. Why are you so hunched over?"
"I'm invisible," Zoryana replied, without turning her head. "Everyone else has new things, but I have old things.".
Something rustled softly above her. On a low branch of a chestnut tree, right above the bench, sat a large, warm owl—with light brown feathers, a cream chest, and small round glasses on its beak.
"Starry," the owl said gently. "My name is Sophie. Can I explain something to you?"
Zoryana raised her head. The owl's glasses sparkled - just like the soles of Marincha's sneakers. But somehow completely different. Warm.
"Explain," Zoryana grumbled. "Just don't say 'don't be jealous,' okay? Because I know you can't. But I didn't mean to.".
"I won't say," Sofiyka smiled. "I'll say something else. Envy is not a bad child. Envy is a clue. It comes to tell you something about yourself. You just have to decipher it.".
🦉 Lesson from Sofiyka
1. Envy is when you forget about yourself
Envy arises when you look at others so much that you stop seeing yourself. And you also have your own world - your thoughts, your skills, your smile. Just take your eyes off other people's sneakers for a moment and look at your hands - they have already managed to draw, hug, build something of their own.
2. You don't have to be like anyone else.
The sunflower is not jealous of the forget-me-not, and the forget-me-not does not try to become a sunflower. Both bloom at their own pace and in their own size - and that is why the garden is so beautiful. If all the flowers were the same, it would be boring. You are you, and that is valuable.
3. Look at what you already have
Try to mentally list your «treasures.» These don’t have to be things. They could be: «I have a grandmother who always hugs me,» «I can braid my braids,» «I know how to calm my little brother.» When you see your treasures, other people’s things don’t shine so brightly anymore.
4. Say something nice out loud
The fastest way to drive away envy is to sincerely praise the person you envy. «Your sneakers are great!» — and immediately you feel lighter inside. Because envy thrives on silence. And when you say a kind word, it melts like sugar in tea.
5. Turn envy into desire
If you really want something, that's a hint. Not "she has it, but I don't," but "I also want to learn to draw/dance/have that book." Envy is just a desire that has gone astray. Put it back on the right path: set a goal and slowly go.
6. Take care of your heart
When you feel ache inside, don't beat yourself up. Do something warm: drink cocoa, pet a cat, hug your mom, draw something of your own. Envy loves hunger and fatigue. And it is not interesting to a full and sleepy heart.
Zoryana sat and listened. And she felt the buzzing inside gradually subside. Like after a thunderstorm - when drops are still falling from the leaves, but the sky is already visible.
"Solomyka," Zoryana said quietly, "can I go to Marinka's and tell her that her sneakers are cool? Really. Not because of my teeth.".
"Of course you can," the squirrel nodded. "Try it. It's a magical thing.".
Zoryana stood up. On the way to the classics, she bent down and picked three flowers — a daisy, a cornflower, and a clover. She gathered them into a small bouquet.
"Marinka!" she called out. "You really have very nice sneakers. And these are for you. Because you are my friend.".
Marinka froze. Then she smiled—so wide that Zoryana hadn't seen it in a long time.
— Oh… Zoryano… Thank you! How about you jump with me too? Justynka and I are missing one person.
And Zoryana ran to jump. In her old sneakers. On the asphalt, on which squares were drawn with chalk. And for some reason now — at this very moment — nothing was bothering her. Not at all.
And on the chestnut branch, Sofiyka quietly exchanged glances with Solomiyka. And they both smiled.
Sofiyka believes in you. And Solomiyka too. 🦉🐿️