Jealousy is the green-eyed monster. Apparently first coined by William Shakespeare in Othello in 1604. It's not something that usually bothers me - I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of person who is generally quite happy with his lot in life.
BUT, and isn't there always a BUT, today I found myself in Tarragona and went for a wander around the harbour. Looking at the beautiful yachts that were moored there. It set me thinking about capitalism and socialism and where is the fairness in this world when some people can own enormous yachts like this and others are begging for scraps on the streets of every town and city in the world.
Socialism, and equality for everyone, is a fine ideal which, unfortunately, doesn't work very well.There will always be some people who work harder and some people who are inherently idle. If only we could differentiate between those who can't help themselves (and are therefore worthy of our help) and those who won't help themselves and rely on others to spoon-feed them.
And I'm certainly not saying that all the owners of these yachts got them by virtue of sheer hard work. You can work hard all your life and save every penny you've ever earned and still not be in the super yacht league. They will have found a different way to climb the rungs in the ladder of life and have ended up nearer the top of the ladder than I have.
So yes, for a few moments, I was green with envy. But, thank goodness, I soon got over it, and counted my blessings: intrinsic happiness, good family and friends, a roof over my head, and good health. Money isn't everything. (Says everybody who doesn't have much of it.)
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Good observations Des. I remember the day when I decided that I have enough and could take my foot off the loud pedal. When you are getting established, mortgage, children etc, it's seems there is never enough. The trick is noticing when that struggle ends and you are just striving for unnecessary 'luxuries'. No-one lies on their death bed wishing they had spent more time at the office.
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