So, last night I watched my team, the New England Patriots, win a bid to the Super Bowl. It wasn’t their easiest run…and the game went into overtime.
Most people hate the Patriots. They’ll call them cheaters. They’ll come up with a multitude of reasons. Most of the time I roll my eyes, but last night as insomnia withheld sleep, I started pondering the deeper reason people hate the Patriots.
People hate great.
People hate winners.
People hate those who are more successful than they are.
Why?
The only thing I can come up with is jealousy.
Truly successful people don’t have the time to hate a team with such deep vitriol that they resort to personal attacks of the fans. Well…Gary Vaynerchuk is an exception, but that’s because one day he is going to own the Jets, so I’ll give him a pass.
Truly successful people study those who are more successful than they are to learn how to achieve more. They don’t tear down others who are great. They choose to spend time with them.
Truly happy people are so happy with themselves they don’t direct ire at people they don’t know. They are too busy making sure they don’t lose that happiness, trying to spread that joy to be malicious.
So, if you’re reading this and I hit a nerve, good. Stop wasting your energy hating a group of men who get paid a lot of money to play a game and create a life that is so great that you don’t want to expend negative energy.
Deneen White 