Living simply challenge Day 20: Envy

     I've been wanting to write on this topic for a while now, trying to figure out in my head exactly how to word it. I walked into church today and that was the exact message! I may steal a few key points or phrases from there mixed with my usual take on things. It's not a preachy message - but it is a warning against consumerism and allowing yourself to be driven by advertising and marketing.

   

 Envy:  1. a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc. It's what drives our culture through the ads we see and the marketing think groups who's sole purpose is to target YOU. The average person comes across 4,000 to 10,000 ads PER DAY!!! That may seem like an impossibility when you think, "but I don't watch much television and I don't live in a big city with billboards," but what about on social media? How many ads do you see, even if it's just subconsciously around the borders of what you're reading? Are you on more than one platform? Facebook - twitter - instagram - and don't forget junk emails...the backstops of rural kids' ballparks, in the windows of the local stores, signs out front on your area's main street, newspapers, phone solicitations, it's endless! What do they all have in common? They are designed to get you to part with your money for something you don't need. Their job is to convince you a "want" is a "need", and it's working.

   

 Back in the day, envy was up there with malice and greed. It was a vice (defined as an immoral or evil practice). Nowadays, envy is a virtue (a particular moral excellence)! What the hell happened?!
You can say you're not an envious person, but almost all of us fall into its trap at some point in our life. Have you ever been going along throughout your day, thinking everything's good, you feel happy, you're enjoying life, then you come across someone who's say, driving a car that gets your attention? Suddenly you're not so happy, especially with what you're driving. You start to think about how that driver is probably some spoiled trust fund baby, or they do dishonest things to get it. You're much more deserving than they are. Your want just turned into a need. You've lost the joy you had.

     What about when you're out in public? You stop at a nice little outdoor spot for lunch, enjoying the nice day and the time to enjoy it. You look good, you feel good. It's a good day. Then you spot a table across from you where the customers are wearing expensive clothes, dripping with status symbol jewelry pieces, she's got a purse you know is worth over $500, and of course, they're scrolling on the latest greatest version of the newest, most expensive cell phone while waiting for their meal. What goes through your head? Is it that you're happy someone is succeeding in this crazy world? Is it that you're so filled with joy that they have their life together? No. Be honest. You know you're thinking about comparisons. Why do THEY have those things? You work hard - harder by the looks of "them". Now you're rationalizing (which are just RATIONAL LIES) why they have what they do and you don't, without ever having met nor talked to them. Your own joy for the day is stolen.

     Want to know if you have envy in your heart? Ask yourself these 2 questions:     

1.  Are you unable to enjoy what someone else has or has done? 

2. Are you unable to enjoy what YOU have? (Are you content?) 

     

Envy starts with one single thought, "Why him/her and not ME?"  We have been so programmed by advertising and consumerism to live in a frenzied state of trying to out-do everyone else around us. It leads to depression, health issues, financial struggles, loss of relationships, and for what? Just to own stuff we never intended on purchasing until we were manipulated into thinking we HAD to have it. We've become a culture that gets its self-worth from the useless things we clutter and hoard around us. This cycle of buying for that drug type of momentary euphoria, the huge let down very shortly afterwards, and the drive to go buy for that "high" again - it's destroying society. It's a prison and you become it's slave, a slave to the emotions produced by an industry of strangers to make you feel resentful of other strangers around you, all so they can put their kids in private schools and drive fancy cars. Wake up and see envy for what it is!

     You'll never experience joy in this life, at home, in your relationships, or in your world at all if you're constantly thinking, "If only I bought a ____________, " or "maybe I should go get a _______" you fill in the blank.If you're reading this and you see a little of yourself or someone you know in it, start taking some baby steps to break out of the prison, learn how to regain your freedom. Freeing yourself of material envy is something that's so hard to describe to others. You truly need to experience it for yourself. If you need help, there are 19 days of Living Simply daily challenges, or baby steps, you can take here on this blog. There's also a 30 day Minimalism challenge on here that I just did in July. If you still need help, you can to go The Minimalists website and read some of their essays or listen to a few podcasts. You also can find some good information on Joshua Becker's website here.