JEALOUSY and ENVY
"I COMPARE MYSELF NEGATIVELY WITH OTHERS"
If others have a greater power of activity and are able to do and achieve far more than us, then we may feel resentment towards them and self loathing towards ourselves because we feel inadequate when compared to others. This is the emotion of jealousy.
It is not so much that we desire that which others have but we feel negative towards their abilities and negative towards our apparent lack when we compare ourselves with others.
Jealousy is here taken to be the same as envy. It is defined to be a sorrow which one entertains at another's well-being because of a view that one's own excellence is in consequence lessened. Its distinctive malice comes from the opposition it implies to the supreme virtue of charity. The law of love constrains us to rejoice rather than to be distressed at the good fortune of our neighbour. Besides, such an attitude is a direct contradiction of the spirit of solidarity which ought to characterize the human race.
The envious man tortures himself without cause, morbidly holding as he does, the success of another to constitute an evil for himself. The sin, in so far as it defies the great precept of charity, is in general grievous, although on account of the trifling matter involved, as well as because of the lack of deliberation, it is often reputed to be venial. Jealousy is most evil when one repines at another's humanitarian good.
COVETOUSNESS: Wanting that which others have
Do not covet thy neighbors goods.
Yearning for that which is not ours or is not realistic at the current moment in our lives, comparing our own achievements with other's, or setting our aims beyond our means can only really produce negative outcomes for ourselves and in our relationships with others.
If we fall prey to covetousness then we will waste our time and energy in unnecessary and painful pursuits. We will become highly competitive as we strive to better our neighbour. We may turn to criminal activity to get that wish our envious and greedy mind has set itself upon.
Envy leads to resentment, jealousy, anger, spite and hatred. Negativity that will only upset us and make us ill.
At the end of the day it is we who will suffer the most from the effects of jealousy and envy, and we may cause a lot of unnecessary pain for others too.
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