Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Who Do I Envy?

During the many hours of introspection that I manage to put in during a normal day, I have constantly asked myself many questions ranging from the downright stupid to the very profound.

Here's one of those questions which fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum - Who do I envy? I finally seem to have come up with some sort of an answer.

I envy two kinds of people -

1. People who know what they want to do in life:

I feel miserable when I see people going about doing things as if they were born to do it, as if there is nothing else in the world they'd want to do. They are people who are passionate about something and know what they want (and more importantly, what they don't want).

I, on the other hand, am not passionate about anything. I don't know what I want to achieve in life or where I'll be 3 years from now. I could end up being a politician or a traveller in the end and I wouldn't be surprised at all. There are some things which I like doing more that others and there are some things I consider myself to be good at. But none of these are things for which I'd leave everything tomorrow and pursue with single-minded determination. I'd be ruing the opportunities and experiences I'd be missing out on by sacrificing something.

2. People who have found love:

By love, I don't mean the love-thy-neighbour kind of broad idea of love; neither do I mean the narrow definition of making-love kind of love. You get the idea, right? Basically, people who have a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife who they love (not including high-school crushes and unrequited loves). Even at the risk of sounding corny, I think that having somebody beside you whom you love and trust gives life a whole new meaning. Besides, sharing your life with a partner is the way to live life.

You may accuse me of being naive in assuming that such 'love' exists, and rightly so. But a person who has never known what it feels like to be in love always likes to believe that true love is just around the corner. When I see people who are supposedly in love, I feel as if I'm missing out on something which normal human beings should be experiencing.

So there you have it - I don't envy people with famous surnames or enormous bank balances. Neither do I envy film stars, rock stars or sports stars. What about you?

15 comments:

Badri said...

I guess I am more miserable than you , I dont even know what to do in the next fifteen days.....

I envy every tom,dick and harry who gets a visa to US (and a pretty chick because of that)

I agree with you,whats life without sweet nothings, horny smses and occasional fun. I guess the song "ennaku oru girl friend venumada" explains the desires of guys like us...........

Reshma said...

I know someone like that - she knows whats she wants, and she is having so much fun.. I am always choking on greeniness when I see or meet or hear of her latest accomplishments.. horrible innit?

As for love? ... Why man? Its overrated. *bleagh*
You know who I envy? I envy people who get parking spots at the perfect places.. and I envy people who have these wonderful toned arms because I have arms like the Pilsbury mascot :)

Philip said...

badri: I never thought I'd be able to identify myself with the guys in Boys. But now that you put it this way...

rune: Arms like Pilsbury mascot :p
Love is a bit like sex. Until you lose your virginity, sex is a big deal. After that, everybody keeps saying it's overrated.

silverine said...

Absolutely agree with point 2 because I have seen such couples. My parents being one such example. But I consider these cases flukes...i.e two people who vibe well meeting each other is a stroke of luck. I firmly believe there is some one for everyone out there...but most of us will never meet that person.

And envy..thats something I am born without.

Philip said...

silverine: Although I don't believe in the someone-for-everyone philosophy, I do agree that a couple hitting it off well is a stroke of luck more that anything else.

And thank you for reassuring me that such things as love really do exist :)

Anonymous said...

...common man..stop reading some corny romantic novels...get a life..hang out with friends..watch movies...
..best of read blogs :p

...great post...keep it going

Unknown said...

As i finished reading the post, one small old story flashed in my mind-

In a prayer hall of a village school, the Headmaster calls a kid and asks,"If god appears in front of you and gives a boon of your choice, what will you choose?"
The guy without any hesitation replies,"Lots of money".
The HM expecting such an answer, realised thats the time to outsmart the kid, addresses the hall, "Everybody, if i were the kid, i would have asked for lot of knowledge". To add more insult, HM asks kid,"why did u go for such a silly choice?"
The kid replied,"both of us asked what we didnt have"

Similarly
I guess u were able to achieve most of the things which u thought will give you happiness. Those list of things never ended and so did ur pursuit for happiness. So naturally people who had not even half ur skills and wealth but with self-contented mind would make u envy on them.
I would say, envy is an end result of admiring something and failure in trying to indigenise it.
EH-IM

Anoop said...

Dont you think finding happiness in whatever you do is more important than figuring out the right thing to do wenfiguring out becomes overwhelming .Maybe an utopian view ,but probably helps wen u have no clue of wat exactly to do with life (like me).

And love well ,double edged sword.

Sidharth said...

Seriously man , you just written down what I am feeling in my life , as u have done it brilliantly. I have followed many things believing I was passionate about them yet in the end I got drifted to other things .
Sometimes I drift back to those in a matter of time , but as you said nothing that I wanna pursue or can give 100 % effort and time. Is that generic ? Are passionate people a minority ? But they stand out hence we notice them .Does every human being have something they are truly passionate about ? I want to believe they do but from what I have seen in my life not necessarily.

What happened to the horses , philip ?You never made love to them ? Hehe . Dude you are so right about love to , but I dont envy them . I find it so difficult to love a human being other than myself with complete trust and unconditionally. When I find such people I wonder if they are foolish or is it me being cold.

Brilliant blog , quit your job and do this 24x7 . Anyway you dont belong there :P

eljo said...

Hi Philip, first time here. Loved reading your posts. I am totally with you on both the points. Totally clueless on what I want to do but am really lucky to have met that someone special.

jj said...

I envy you for "those hours of introspection" you manage to put in!
I envy people who get the time to do what they want to do!
And I'm happy coz many people I know, envy the singled out singles like me :P ...

:-) said...

eda senti aavathae!!!

vidu - pottae - ninte number varum -

You are making so many people think about themselves - that was great man! :-P

try get a horse - if u dont have anyother option :-P

Philip said...

rahul: Thanks for the advice :)

ethan: That could be true. Thanks for taking the time to put down your thoughts on this one.

anoop: What you said is absolutely true. But human beings being human beings, they have their failings.

sid: Thanks man :)
Even I don't think there is somebody who is 100%...but even the 90% guys are good.

eljo: Lucky you! Thanks and keep dropping in.

jj: So there's somebody who envies what I have :) Good.

LIG: Horses are hard to come by here da ;)

en em said...

i think we fall under the same category. :)
loved all ur posts. nice work.

Anupama said...

Hey!

More than envy, what I feel when I see someone who knows what he wants and where he is going is a strnage sense of awe and respect. Very few of us actually get to the point of finalizing our wishes/dreams/desires and starting to work on them.

And that elusive thing called true love! I agree in full with what you say and hope that we all find our share of it sooner or later

Good to discover you (again) and your blog...a very nice one at that! I will be back too :)