The Malaise of Envy

I have been wondering the last few days whether human beings are programmed simply not to be content with the blessings they've got. You know, the Grass Is Always Greener Syndrome. I currently have a roof over my head, family who loves me, a job, and I'm nearly finished with my thesis. And yet I envy the homes some of my friends have been able to buy. They aren't necessarily the Taj Mahal, but they are their spaces. I crave a house of my own, space of my own, so that I can indulge in a long standing nesting instinct. Another friend of mine has an incredible marriage with her husband. They're very much in love and yet she envies her friends who have babies (because that is her deepest desire). Those same friends with the baby envy her marriage because she and her hubby are still incredibly in love (which actually makes me wonder about people who may have had a baby to fill some sort of void that would have better been filled by actually working on their marriage, but I don't know them, so I certainly can't judge). At the moment I can't think of anyone I know who is perfectly content with their life.

I wonder what it is in our make up that makes us unable to be content? Does it go back to Eden and eating the fruit of knowledge? Is this a modern malaise? Is this limited to the Western world? Just human nature? I'm not sure. It's a terrible way to look at life, though, isn't it? Someone out there somewhere will always have something we don't have and may want. Would we all be more satisfied if we spent the same amount of energy being positive about and working on our own lives that we do envying those of others? Happiness is very much a state of mind. But it seems to be a state that most people haven't mastered.

So that having been said, I'm continuing on with my list of blessings. I know, I know. I'm terrible about remembering to write them down every day, but at least I'm thinking about them.

1. I've got my thesis back from my last committee member and have only to finish his corrections before I can resubmit it to be signed off upon.
2. I've got taco soup for supper.
3. Angel seems to be regaining some muscle tone in her injured shoulder.