Do You Believe the 'Grass Is Always Greener'?

Springtime is coming soon to the northern half of the planet. That means signs of green plant life are beginning to show! Some flowers and trees will start to bloom and some grasses will become more green. Neighbors can even get competitive over who has the greenest, thickest lawn. But competing with and comparing ourselves to others is usually not a good idea. In fact, we have an idiom to describe that exact situation. That idiom is: “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” Some might say this idiom describes the human quality of always wanting something different than what you have. Some people are never happy with their own situation. They are never satisfied. They think others have it better or easier than they do. Even if their life is perfectly fine, they still look at others and want what they have. The idiom also expresses this idea: people often think a different set of conditions would bring them greater happiness. So, we use this idiom to remind people that this is not often the case. Let's say you “look over the fence” and see that your neighbor has a new car, a big house, and a good-looking partner. You may want what that neighbor has. But what you may not know is that the new car and big house are making your neighbor poor. And the good-looking partner is actually a mean, unpleasant person. Let's listen to a conversation between two friends. Notice how they use a shortened form of the idiom. This is often how you will hear it. Did you hear the news about Martin? He's moving again. That's the third time in a year! What's wrong this time? So now he's moving out there to start over. He did the same thing a few months ago when he visited a friend in California. You know Martin. He's always been a grass-is-always-greener kind of guy. Well, hopefully he'll be happy in Oregon. I doubt it.