Envy and Progress

There are things that philosophers will never agree on with their arguments splitting hairs that you cannot even see. Largely, though, these things are issues that the mango person hardly ever bothers his head about. You know, like whether plants have a soul or whether there is  multiverse and things like that. Comes to the things that we guys are interested in, they seem to show a surprising unanimity of opinion. Which can be reduced to 'Whatever the common man thinks is ok is not.'

Take envy for example. Who among us thinks it is...well, not exactly good, but....Ah! What I mean is that we all think it is sort of normal to feel it and, thus, it cannot be sinful. Well, just think of that other thing that we all find normal to feel - lust - and think what the philosophers have to say about it. So, here goes Tiru

Azhukkatru agandraarum illai aqdhu illaar perukkaththu theerndhaarum il - Tirukkural

No envious man achieves greatness; nor does lacking envy cause you to fail in achieving it - Loose Translation

There you go! Tiru strongly holds that envy destroys you chances of achieving greatness. Which, in a way, seems logical. I mean, if you are in a race, it hardly helps you win to concentrate on the way the other guy runs, does it? Envy keeps you concentrating on what the other guy is doing/has achieved AND feeling that, somehow, the universe has conspired to give him success. Instead, you ought to be concentrating on what YOU need to do to win. BUT...if you assume that winning or losing is the conspiracy of the universe, then you do not plan to work on winning; you only plan to either steal the win from the other guy OR, perhaps, strive to make him lose.

You see, envy shifts your attention from the race to the competitor; ergo, your future actions will be centered on how to make the competitor lose than on how to run a better race. Why, when you generally envy a person's success - in terms of his money or fame - you may even end up entering the wrong race. End up entering the sprint, because the other guy made his success by sprinting, when you have the makings of a great marathoner.

The point is that greatness is achieved by knowing who you are - what your strengths and weaknesses are. THEN you enter the proper race for yourself, learn the training you need to succeed in that race and acquire it. Envy keeps your focus on others; on the things that could, perhaps, help you disrupt THEIR success; not to succeed yourself.

AND Tiru also says that a lack of envy has not been a reason for anyone to fail. Now, yes, ambition is a consequence of not being satisfied with who you are and where you are. True, but that dissatisfaction need not arise out of comparing yourself with the next guy. Even if it does, it is not necessary to envy the other guy; just use him as a role model for what is possible for you.

But, then, all that is tough. It is easiest to just lie back and say, "If only luck favored me like it did him..."