Feelings of envy - this is what most people are familiar with to one degree or another. The destructive power of this feeling is also probably experienced by many on themselves, although not everyone is ready to admit it. After all, envy is a shameful feeling.
Feelings of envy
Envy Is a feeling that arises in relation to someone who has something (material or immaterial) that the envious wants to have, but does not have.
According to the Dahl Dictionary, envy is "annoyance for someone else's good or good," envy means "regretting that he himself does not have what the other has."
Spinoza defined envy as "displeasure at the sight of someone else's happiness" and "pleasure in his own misfortune."
"Envy is rottenness for the bones," said Solomon the Wise, and the first Bishop of Jerusalem, Jacob, warns that "... where there is envy, there is disorder and everything bad."
Examples of envy
Below we will look at examples of envy, which clearly show how envy is destructive to a person's life.
We bring to your attention 5 wise parables about envy.
CHOICE OF THE CROSS
Once envy crept into the heart of an innocent villager. He worked hard every day, but his income was just enough to barely feed his family. Opposite him lived a wealthy neighbor who did the same business, but was much more successful in his work. He had a great fortune and many came to him to ask for money. Of course, this inequality oppressed the poor man, and he felt unjustly offended by fate.
After further deliberation, he fell asleep. And now he has a dream that he is standing at the foot of the mountain, and a certain venerable old man says to him:
- Come after me.
They walked for a long time, when they finally came to a place where a huge number of all kinds of crosses lay. They were all different sizes and made from different materials. There were crosses of gold and silver, copper and iron, stone and wood. The elder says to him:
- Choose any cross you want. Then you will need to carry it to the top of the mountain that you saw in the beginning.
The poor man's eyes lit up, his palms were sweating, and he hesitantly walked towards the golden cross, which shone brightly in the sun and attracted to itself with its magnificence and beauty. As he approached it, his breathing quickened and he bent down to pick it up. However, the cross turned out to be so heavy that the poor simple man, no matter how hard he tried to lift it, could not even move it.
- Well, you can see that this cross is too strong for you, - the elder says to him, - choose another one.
Quickly glancing around at the existing crosses, the poor man realized that the second most valuable cross was silver. However, lifting it, he only took a step, and immediately fell: the silver cross was also too heavy.
The same happened with the copper, iron and stone crosses.
Finally, the man found the smallest wooden cross, which lay unnoticed to the side. He fit him so well that the poor man calmly took him and carried him to the top of the mountain, as the elder said.
Then his companion turned to him and said:
- And now I will tell you what kind of crosses you just saw. Golden cross - this is the royal cross. You think that it is easy to be a king, but you do not know that royal power is the heaviest burden. Silver cross - this is the lot of all those in power. It is also very heavy and not everyone can take it down. Copper cross - this is the cross of those to whom God has sent wealth in life. It seems to you that it is good to be rich, but you do not know that they do not know peace either day or night. In addition, the rich will have to give an account of how they used their wealth in life. Therefore, their life is very difficult, although before you considered them lucky. iron Cross - this is the cross of military people who often live in field conditions, endure cold, hunger and constant fear of death. Stone cross - this is the lot of merchants. They seem to you to be successful and happy people, but you don’t know how hard they work to get their food. And then there are often cases when they, having invested in an enterprise, completely lose everything, remaining in complete poverty. And here wooden crosswhich seemed to you the most convenient and suitable - this is your cross. You complained that someone lives better than you, but you could not master a single cross except your own. Therefore, go, and henceforth do not grumble about your life and do not envy anyone. God gives everyone a cross according to their strength - how much someone can carry.
At the last words of the elder, the poor man woke up, and never again envied and did not grumble about his fate.
IN THE SHOP
And this is not quite a parable, since a real incident from life is taken as a basis. This is a prime example of envy, so we thought it would be appropriate here.
Once a man went to a store to buy apples. Found the fruit section and sees that there are only two boxes of apples. He went up to one, and let's pick larger and prettier apples. He chooses, and out of the corner of his eye notices that the fruit in the next box is nicer in appearance. But there is a person standing there, and he also chooses.
Well, he thinks, now this customer will leave, and I'll pick up some great apples. He thinks, but he himself stands, and goes through the fruits in his box. But then a few minutes pass, and he still does not leave the box with good apples. "How much you can, - the man is displeased, but decides to wait a little longer." However, another five minutes pass, and he, as if nothing had happened, continues to poke around in the box with the best apples.
Then the patience of our hero runs out, and he turns to his neighbor to rather sharply ask him to let him get some good apples. However, turning his head, he sees that on the right ... a mirror!
LOG
Another example of envy, when this harmful feeling destroyed the life of an envious person who had everything for happiness.
Two friends lived next door. One was poor, and the other inherited a large inheritance from his parents. One morning a poor man came to his neighbor and said:
- Do you have an extra log?
- Of course, - answered the rich man, - but what do you want?
“You need a log for a pile,” the poor man explained. - I am building a house, and I am missing only one pile.
“Okay,” said the rich neighbor, “I'll give you a log for free, because I have a lot of them.
The delighted poor man thanked his comrade, took the log and went to finish building his house. After a while, the work was completed, and the house turned out to be very successful: tall, beautiful and spacious.
Sorted out the annoyance of a rich neighbor, he came to the poor man and began to demand his log back.
- How am I giving you the log, - the poor friend was surprised. “If I take it out, the house will collapse. But I can find a similar log in the village and return it to you.
- No, - answered the envious person, - I only need mine.
And as their argument was long and fruitless, they decided to go to the king, so that he could judge which of them was right.
The rich man took more money with him on the road, just in case, and his poor neighbor cooked boiled rice and took some fish. On the way, they were tired and very hungry. However, there were no merchants nearby who could buy food, so the poor man generously treated the rich man with his rice and fish. Towards evening they arrived at the palace.
- What business did you come with? The king asked.
- My neighbor took the log from me and does not want to give it back - the rich man began.
- Was it so? - the ruler turned to the poor man.
- Yes, - he answered, - but when we walked here, he ate some of my rice and fish.
“In that case,” the king concluded, addressing the rich man, “let him return your log to you, and you give him his rice and fish.
They returned home, the poor man pulled out a log, brought it to a neighbor and said:
- I returned your log to you, and now lie down, I want to take my rice and fish from you.
The rich man got scared in earnest and began to mutter that, they say, the log can no longer be returned.
But the poor man was adamant.
- Have mercy, - then the rich man began to ask, - I will give you half of my fortune.
“No,” answered the poor neighbor, taking a razor out of his pocket and heading toward him, “I only need my rice and my fish.
Seeing that the matter was taking a serious turn, the rich man shouted in horror:
- I will give you all my good, just don't touch me!
So the poor man became the richest man in the village, and the rich envious turned into a beggar.
VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE
A man was driving in a beautiful foreign car and watched as a helicopter flew over him. “It’s probably good,” he thought, “to fly through the air. No traffic jams, no accidents, and even the city, at a glance ... ".
A young man in a Zhiguli was driving next to a foreign car. He looked at the foreign car with envy and thought: “How wonderful it is to have such a car. The box is automatic, air-conditioned, comfortable seats, and does not break every 100 km. Not like my wreck ... ”.
In parallel with the Zhiguli, a cyclist was riding. Turning the pedals hard, he thought: “All this is certainly good, but every day you can't breathe exhaust gases for so long. And I always come to work sweaty. And if the rain is a disaster, you will be dirty from head to toe. Is it different for this guy in the Zhiguli ... ".
There and then a man stood at a stop nearby and, looking at the cyclist, thought: “If I had a bike, I wouldn't have to spend money on the road every day and push in stuffy minibuses. Plus it is good for health ... ".
All this was watched by a young man sitting in a wheelchair on the balcony of the 5th floor.
“I wonder,” he thought, “why is this guy at the bus stop so unhappy? Maybe he needs to go to an unloved job? But then he can go anywhere, he can walk ... ”.
TWICE MORE
One Greek king decided to reward two of his nobles. Having invited one of them to the palace, he said to him:
“I’ll give you whatever you want, but keep in mind that I’ll give the second one the same, only twice as much.”
The nobleman thought. The task was not easy, and as he was very envious, the situation was aggravated by the fact that the king wants to give the second two times more than he himself. This haunted him, and he could not decide what to ask the ruler.
The next day he appeared to the king and said:
- Sovereign, order me to gouge out an eye!
In perplexity, the king asked why he expressed such a wild desire.
- In order, - answered the envious nobleman, - so that you gouge out both eyes of my comrade.
Spinoza was right when he said:
"Envy is nothing more than hatred itself, because someone else's misfortune gives her pleasure."
