Envy

[cschin4]

I find it hard to relate to them when they say how hard things are, yet they aren't necessarily adjusting their lifestyle all that much.


I think we have all been moved so far from reality that we don't even yet understand how we ourselves are contributing to the problem. I was talking to a young girl in tears over her financial situation when during our converstation, her cell phone rang. Um, this was a fancy text message type cell phone with probably a 3 yr contract of "unlimited" whatevers. You just want to say "Hey, that is part of your problem"!
Anyway, my thinking is TODAY i have food, clothing and shelter. Maybe I will still have it tomorrow or maybe not, who knows? We all have a false sense of control when the world really is out of control. But, I whined for awhile over my 401K's but now I figured, here today, gone tomorrow but it is gone today, so what? I can cry about it or get busy working and living my life and realizing that life changes. If I have to down size, I will or whatever it takes.
However, the big difficulty now is those who want to downsize cannot since homes aren't selling, etc so unloading one's debt now becomes very difficult.

[SnoopyCool]

When I start to feel the pangs of envy I try to remind myself that I'm being ungrateful and start to remember what I have to be thankful for. Sometimes it isn't so easy but it works. I really do have a great life!

[Goldy1]

I am not an envious person by nature. I am happy with myself and life in general etc. but do I have it all? No.

I have felt envy at my sister and brother in law at times, but not intense, just more agitated at their views. They are both line workers for the the big 3. They get paid in the upper 20's an hour and are laid off more than they work it seems esp lately. At least 10 times a year they go on nice vacations ie. cruises, Disney World, Vegas. In essence, they get paid to be laid off and use the "unearned" income to travel. Must be nice b/c me and dh do not get paid to be laid off from our companies and we forgo travel to have more emergency savings.
They complain about buy out money not being enough but when my dh got laid off recently all he got was a "have a nice day, by the way your benefits end tomorrow, here's the number to Marvin" lol

My parents complain about co pays on thier health insurance gm pays for life from my dad's retirement. My mom calls my dad's gm pension "peddly(meaning small) but I could literally live well off it if I had to. I gave up inserting my perspective, and don't let it get to me.

[Ima saver]

I do not envy anyone of anything that they have. I have a wonderful life, husband, home, car and a pretty cute puppy! Who could ask for anything more! (except to be able to eat all the fudge I want without gaining weight)

[yourlifeplanned]

Try not to stress over the small stuff. Envy is one of those emothions that saps energy....give it the flick.
As long as you do the right thing and your head is in the right place then that makes you a good example and roll model for others to follow and look up to. Even friends eventually get the idea....it does rub off

[Pitman]

Envy is one of the 7 Deadly Sins, and just as Ima Saver posted, I don't envy anyone for anything they have.

Jealousy is such as weak emotion. Be happy for what you do have, and if you want something work hard towards it, and in time you'll obtain it. I look at the various people who have much more than I do as motivation.

[thekid]

Envy is one of the 7 Deadly Sins, and just as Ima Saver posted, I don't envy anyone for anything they have.

Jealousy is such as weak emotion. Be happy for what you do have, and if you want something work hard towards it, and in time you'll obtain it. I look at the various people who have much more than I do as motivation.

Man, I envy people like you.

[supercheap]

Envy no, worried very.
With the down turn a lot of people who thought they were rich will, and are, finding out they were just renting their lifestyle. Easy credit combined with a feeling of entitlement really has messed up this country. Nobody wants to work and it's always someone else's fault. The USA is still young but the time has come now that we have to grow up as a country. The government ability to be our nanny is ending fast. We are going to have to learn to be responsible and take care of and depend on ourselves. To start earning our lifestyles not borrowing them. I see lots of people who think that soon we will be back to normal. That the good time are just a few months away. That's not going to happen. This time it is Different. We've ran our economy on debt for the last twenty years and the bill is due. To many people are acting like spoiled children having had their candy taken away. I'm afraid that things are going to get much worse while we wait for everybody to be forced to grow up.

"When the tide goes out you'll see who has been swimming naked". Warren Buffet

[snowboardebater]

I understand :-/ I just always try to remember that things always work out naturally.

[wnlbutterfly]

I work part time as a tax preparer. You NEVER know the whole story until you really see it on a 1040. I see people I would expect to be average income making a LOT of money (and saving it wisely) and I see the opposite. I see people with a family of 5, making $20k a year, own their home, and no government aid. A very rude awakening when we are making 4 times that and complaining. It has really helped my perspective on things and realizing we can do so much better.

There will always be people that say they are broke, yet what they mean is they don't have any cash on hand. Then there are the people that REALLY are broke but spending like crazy still.

Doing taxes I get to hear "but my friend/co-worker/cousin got a bigger refund....why?" (envy there too). That is always a fun question. I finally told one guy that most likely his friend lived on half of what they do a year to get that big refund, so if they wanted to live on less during the year, they too could get a BIG refund in April. Changed his perspective.

Just pointing out, that you can take anything at face value.

[mom-from-missouri]

I don't envy the other guy anymore. When I took a Dave Ramsey class several who I use to enny opened up--they were in debt up to their eyeballs. I decided I didn't envy that.

[PrincessPerky]

What do you envy? their Credit card bills? their worry over not getting paid enough to cover basic bills?

Their inability to control themselves?

OK sure you could look at their 'stuff' or eating out, but behind that is the truth, and the truth isn't so pretty.

[Pitman]

I don't know which is sadder, the fact that people envy those who are have more, or that it makes you feel good to know that in reality those same people are doing much worse than you.

Seriously, it's a shame.

[kork13]

What do you envy? their Credit card bills? their worry over not getting paid enough to cover basic bills?

Their inability to control themselves?

OK sure you could look at their 'stuff' or eating out, but behind that is the truth, and the truth isn't so pretty.

I think what most people might be envious of is the way of life/standard of living. I know that does assume that they can actually afford that way of life (potentially a tall order in recent years), but I still think it's valid. I believe that an average person really can earn/save/manage their way into an affordable, yet comfortable (yes, potentially envious) way of life. I sure as heck hope that's possible, because that's what I'm planning on doing.

There's alot of people out who live what many would call "posh" lifestyles without really being able to afford it (so-called "luxury on credit"), but also many who really can afford to live that "higher" lifestyle. What's important is recognizing where you personally fit in there, if at all.

[Caoineag]

I don't tend to feel envy regarding material things because that would require me to want what other people want. Since I am selfish, I only care about being able to afford what I want. Can you tell I am an extreme introvert?

That said, occasionally I will imagine how my life would be different if I was wealthier, I just don't seem to envy other specific people.

Now envying non material things, I can see that more. When I am lying on my deathbed, I am not going to care about what I bought, I am going to care about what I did and who loved me/who I loved. The best cure for that though is to know how you want to live your life and progress towards that. Envy is sort of a cop out in my opinion.