My muse, the NY Times, piqued my interest with an article: The Upside of Envy, written by Gordon Marino (May 6, 2018), a professor of philosophy at St. Olaf College. Dr. Marino highlights how our envious feelings may provoke an internal response of judgmental criticalness towards those we envy. He describes his negative attitude toward “fanatic” elder exercisers– who are dedicated to their sport and amazingly fit for their age – and disparages them as “clear cases of modern-day self-care gone wild”.  His honest look at his own reactions (which he encourages) illuminates this mechanism: underneath his grousing he confesses to envious feelings toward these “supercyclists”, because he can no longer strive for athletic prowess which he always enjoyed immensely, due to his accumulated injuries.