Envy Much ?

I am often left with astonishment when I think of all the envy that occurs in the world today. I cannot help, but wonder how things would be if we were more content with the life we had instead of becoming consumed with wanting more. I am referring to "we" because I am sure that everyone including myself has expressed envy at some point in their lives. Some people may disagree to have ever expressed envy and it is important to understand that having the ability to openly state that one has experienced envious emotions takes a lot of courage and exemplifies autonomy.

Envy may have been a factor in a lot of history's tragedies. Things that I consider in regards to envy are past wars and hatred amongst different countries, conflicts between friends and loved ones, and the development of various psychological issues. Why is it that we want more than what we already have and could the world be less tragic if we were more content with what we had? According to research, feelings of envy emerge due to an individual's feelings of inferiority and invidious ill will. Present findings indicate that people differ in measurable ways in their tendencies to feel envy and that these differences may have important implications for social interactions (Smith et al. 1994). This past year, I have done a lot of research on self-love and how self-love leads to intrapersonal (within yourself) and interpersonal (with others) happiness. I believe that a key factor for us to achieve happiness within ourselves and with other individuals is to acquire self-love. Self-love is not an infatuation but a development of respect and an appreciation of our own worth. In order for us to become more self-actualized individuals it is important that we learn to accept ourselves and to make the best of our differences.

I believe it is very important to learn how to control envious emotions in order to maintain both our physical and emotional well being. We need to learn how to shift our judgment from envying other's riches and focus on bettering ourselves for our own benefit.

"Envy is an insult to oneself"-Yevgeny Yevtushenko


<3 Yours Truly