There was once a king who had it all—land, gold, armies, and servants. To his people, he was the richest man alive.

But in his own mind, he was poor.

One day, his neighbour arrived on a grand horse, wearing a new crown with the biggest diamond in the land at its centre. The king complemented him, but he quietly surveyed his own crown, which now felt ordinary.

When he visited his brother’s palace one day, he was amazed to see the recently constructed buildings and gardens. The king congratulated him, but couldn’t sleep that night, as his bed of roses felt like thorns.

No matter how much he had, someone else always seemed to have more. A better horse, a shinier crown, a grander palace, an attractive wife. So, even though he was one of the richest kings alive, he lived a poor life of envy.

Envy is one of the seven deadly sins, and the most dangerous. It doesn’t show up as hatred. It shows up as a silent, burning discomfort when you see someone else doing well. It shows up as the pain you feel at another’s fortune. It irritates you, suffocates you and you silently wish for them to lose it all.

When you live a life of envy, you live bitter, discontented, and joyless. Nothing gives you peace. Nothing makes you whole—no amount of riches can ever give you joy. You remain miserable, trapped in comparison—always looking at another’s plate, always feeling shortchanged.

We all feel envy at some point in our lives. Those who have moved beyond it are not luckier or richer—they are simply no longer measuring their lives against someone else’s.

They understand that comparison has no finish line. They know that life cannot be measured using another’s success or joy as the yardstick. And that a life lived in envy can never feel like a life well lived.

Mudit