Sunday, August 30, 2009

Envy and jealousy

Are envy and jealousy inherent in human character? Or is it a learned human emotion? Maybe it can be a little bit of both. Where does envy come from? How can we suppress or better yet address these feelings of envy? What is the distinction between jealousy and envy?

My theory is that envy is a nascent human emotion that lies dormant in the human being's psyche. This emotion can be benign but once they surface they can become detrimental to the person with feelings of envy and the one he/she is envious of. Envy causes you to focus on qualities you may lack and drains your emotional and psychological energy. Envy also causes you to focus on others rather than yourself.

There is a clear distinction between envy and jealousy. Envy is exhibited when you admire somebody's trait and desire to possess it. Jealousy is an emotion that is exhibited when somebody feels excessive admiration but does not necessarily covet somebody else's trait.

As psychological beings it is only intuitive to assume that envy is an emotion that emanates from a disrupted psyche. Although human traits vary from person to person one universal human trait is insecurity. Inner feelings of insufficiency or deficiency may drive somebody to be envious. Envy is a strong human emotion that festers in the human soul and can cause you to act irrationally in order to obtain a quality that you may covet.

There is a simple solution to being envious; it is a multi-factored approach. First you have to realize what you are jealous of. Secondly we have to come to terms with the fact that everybody is unique. Most people will differ in certain characteristics and be in accordance with others. Lastly you have to figure out how to ameliorate yourself in that area of your characteristics. The person you envy may possess qualities that you may lack but you may possess certain qualities that the other individual lacks.

Despite the feelings of insufficiency once we learn how to value ourselves we can reduce the envy and maybe even eradicate it!

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