Alphabetical Emotions: Envy

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

EPeople are reputed to turn green with envy. If this is the case I have never been envious but of course that is not true. I think we are all envious of certain things or people in our lives if we were to be honest. It is when envy turns to jealousy that it becomes a destructive force. In the dictionary there is little difference between them except that the definition of jealousy adds the word “envious” before the word resentment and would appear to be a stronger emotion than envy. It does not have to be possessions that one is envious of. It could be good looks, a person’s abilities or the luck that a person seems to have that becomes the focus of the envy.
There are some things I envy. I envy people with children. I don’t have children so will never have grandchildren and at times when all my friends are discussing their grandchildren I have to admit to a feeling of envy. This was probably similar to the envy that they expressed of my life out of the main stream. They saw it as being exciting, which it was at times, but I told them “I doubt that we would be able to do it if we had kids.” There is a trade off to everything.
Perhaps green became associated with envy because “the grass is always greener on the other side.”

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About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
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13 Responses to Alphabetical Emotions: Envy

  1. Milanka's Fine Food's avatar milankagiordano says:
    April 5, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    So true Irene! I admire your honesty. 🙂

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  2. Damyanti Biswas's avatar Damyanti says:
    April 5, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    Love the straightforward, honest voice of this post, Irene.

    Damyanti Co-host, A to Z Challenge 2014, Latest post on Amlokiblogs
    Twitter: @damyantig
    #atozchallenge

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  3. IreneDesign2011's avatar irenedesign2011 says:
    April 5, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Your honesty is amazing Irene, a really good post 🙂

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  4. Walkersvillemom's avatar Walkersvillemom says:
    April 5, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    I understand the envy of grandchildren. It’s the one thing I envy of others. My only son has Down syndrome so I won’t have them either. Thank you for sharing your story.

    The Road We’ve Shared A to Z

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  5. susan's avatar susan says:
    April 6, 2014 at 4:52 am

    I have no idea why green and people confuse envy with jealousy – two different things. Thanks for your comment

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  6. Sherri Matthews's avatar Sherri says:
    April 6, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Excellently written, honest post Irene. So very true too. We all envy others at time. Ir’s ironic, as you know I have three grown children but I am the only one within my ‘peer group’ of similar stage-of-life friends who doesn’t have grandchildren. They all share their grandchildren’s exploits but I can only imagine. Still, with my 21 year old Aspie daughter still living at home and needing me to ferry her around and so committed to her perhaps the time wouldn’t be right for me. As you say, with great wisdom, there is always a trade-off…

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