ENVY
"Like Greed, Envy is characterized by an insatiable desire; they differ, however, for two main reasons: First, Greed is largely associated with material goods, whereas Envy may apply more generally. Second, those who commit the sin of Envy desire something that someone else has which they perceive themselves as lacking. Dante defined this as 'love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs...'"
Even had an attack of the Green Eyed Monster? Walked into a store and been insanely jealous of the girl next to you who's flashing daddy's plastic and buying up everything in sight? Heard a friend talk about something fantastic they have and wished, just a little bit, that it had been you instead? I sure have. I know for a fact that you have too.
I've said it before; society today is materialistic. That's not up for argument, it's just a fact. People want more and more - not more friends, but more possessions. Everyone confuses happiness with the amount of the green stuff that they can pull out of their wallets. If they don't have enough to keep up with the 'in crowd', people suffer from a sense of inadequacy.
But it's not all material. Envy covers more than an insatiable desire for more worldy possessions. Envy is what we feel when someone tells us a story about how fantastic their new boyfriend is and we can't help but feel a little blue. Or when someone has a really great day and we can't help but compare it to the mess that is our life. When someone comes along that edges us just a little out of our comfort zone and all we want is it back.
It's reached a point where people just don't care about each other, in the desparate rat-race to get ahead. We can't be happy for each other, not completely. There's always that tinge of the green eyed monster, tugging at your back, making you wish that you were in their shoes.
Way back when, what did people have to be envious of? Someone had a bigger chicken that you? More sheep? A nicer hessian sack-dress? Maybe things have always been the same, envy lurking around every corner. Or maybe people have become less happy with where they are in life and settle for envying everything that they don't have instead.
Everyone wants what they don't have. The grass is always greener on the other side. All that jazz.
Annie
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