The Beast Within Us: Envy

 

Envy, unlike lust for instance, is an emotion that affects us. We become envious when we look at others and try to compare ourselves to them. If we see, and envision, achievement, possessions, quality of life, wealth, status, and the like in others and either wish we had what they had, or wish they didn’t, we are envious. Envy encourages unhappiness in the one experiencing it, but it can also, in cases, lead to subtle sabotage of the others efforts at continued good fortune. That pretty much expresses what we could call destructive or harmful (to us or others) envy. There is a good form of envy as well, for example; the downtrodden segment of society can rightfully be envious of those not as poorly off as they. That is benign envy, and it can bring about social change.

Envy, to us ordinary men can cause us to do some uncharacteristic, and sometimes habit forming things. It can feed our desire, because of the unhappiness caused by it, to feel the need to “keep up with the Joneses.” For example, if the neighbors keep an extraordinarily beautiful yard we might allow that mild envy to spend more than we have available to upgrade our own, perhaps at the expense of buying the family a much needed new couch. Or, if one of the guys recently bought a new boat, it could cause us to think we should have one (and perhaps actually buy one), even though doing so might cause a family budget crunch or prevent money from going into the college fund for the kids.

Envy may be one of the easier beasts within to conquer, simply from the fact that many time our sense of reality and necessity will prevail at times when tempted. That said, there may be instances when our envy can stand in our way of not only happiness, but well being. If we were to envy another man’s wife in such a way that it turned to flirtations lust, a relational envy, serious consequences could be a result relationally.

Bottom Line Thought: If you are fully secure in all that you are, all that you do, and who you are, you will be a happy and contented person. If not, you may have an issue with envy. Do you know if you have an envy issue or not?