"It is essential to happiness that our way of living should spring from our own deep impulses and not from the accidental tastes and desires of those who happen to be our neighbours, or even our relations" - Bertrand Russell
A consistent message through religion and philosophy, this one, from biblical commandments not to covet thy neighbour's possessions, through Alain de Botton's recent analysis of status anxiety, and now the same concern is being highlighted in the mainstream media.
Perhaps much future pain and conflict - personal and societal - could be avoided if we could only find a way - through tools, techniques and role models - to build this into our daily behaviours.
Competing is clearly a key part of the human condition and an essential survival skill in evolutionary terms but, for more of us, more of the time, what dividends might a growing, conscious focus on acceptance and gratitude pay?