There's a couple-friend of ours who kind of gets under my skin. We haven't seen him and her in a few years, but we still exchange Christmas cards. Theirs came last night. I was surprised at how annoyed it made me. As usual, it was a top ten list of accomplishments and accolades. Mister is on the church committee for this, and volunteers with high school students for that. He's performing well at the law firm of Blah-blah-blah and surprised Missus with a wonderful 30th birthday party. Missus continues to do well with her exploits of this and that, is starting a counseling business, in addition to her communications business, and finds time to knit for the shelter. They enjoyed 10 days across the pond traveling through the UK and also enjoyed trips to Here, There, and Everywhere in 2006. How blessed they are and how they couldn't be happier.
It's so saccharine, it almost makes me sick to read. I opened it up last night, and put it down after Accomplishment #3. I was beginning to be annoyed. No one can be that happy, right? It's a sign of something wrong. I put it back in the envelope and set it aside. A few hours later, as I dealt with the mail, I opened it and read it in full. Sigh, it did annoy me, as I suspected it would.
This morning, I mentioned it to DH. He looked at me, put both hands on my shoulders and said, You need to work on not being angry.
Gulp.
Who cares what they're doing, he continued. Throw it away. Stop reading. Who cares? Why so much anger?
The truth is, I don't know why I'm angry. I shouldn't be. I have a perfectly good life. A full life. A lovely baby. A too-patient husband. A good job. A nice house. Working cars. There's really nothing I should be concerned about. And certainly no reason to be angry about someone else's happiness.
But clearly something is bothering me. I wish I knew what it was...
