BRAIN ENVY

          As a child I think I suffered from brain envy a lot, but I’ve never known what to call it until now. In fact, I think it had so much of a grip on me that it led me into the field I happily find myself in today.

You know those people who seem to effortlessly do life, and inspire feelings of inferiority in those of us lesser beings? Yea those guys. Who can stand them right? Well, I used to feel the same way, as a child I couldn’t stand to be around anyone that was better than me, but then I quickly realized that the burden of jealousy was a lot harder to deal with, than the burden of improvement.

And today I can say with confidence, the suffering involved in making oneself better is far more enjoyable than the suffering of knowing you are not your best, or the consequences of not being your best.

          With technology such as SPECT (Single photon emission computed tomography), we can scan people’s brains and create images of what a healthy and an unhealthy brain look like, and what kind of activity each show. With healthy brains looking like a solid mass and unhealthy brains looking like a ball of Swiss cheese, with holes in it.
          If you had to look at images of your own brain, and found out it had holes in it, then looked at the brain of someone who constantly gets under your skin, and realized they had none, I bet you figure out what brain envy feels like then.

              The beauty however with brains, is that they are elastic. You can actually do something about having an unhealthy brain. It always goes back to the basics, healthy diet, exercise, sleep, and other healthy habits such as not smoking or indulging in alcoholism.

                 The thing about brain envy, is that it’s a form of envy that dealing with, is slightly more tangible than say envying the lifestyle of the mega rich. Instead of feeling powerless over those you envy, find out what their minds are like, and how they think. You may become a better version of yourself by learning something new, or you may find that you have everything you need within you already.
                With that being said, wanting a healthy brain will force you strive for a healthy life, and rather than look to the outside world for your comforts, you are forced to look within yourself, and reach for something tangible. Something that may be the key to all your happiness.

By – Simon Karanja