Not so long after the Hebrews rejoiced over leaving Egypt and all the suffering they were faced with, they grew nostalgic, rebellious and bored. They were not beaten anymore. God sent manna and quail. It was a far much better life than they had endured.
Yet, they still grew bored of God’s exciting miracles — parting the Red Sea and all. They decided to forge a golden calf and enjoy a new kind of worship. They grumbled, sought foreign women and irritated God to the extent that they got barred from the promised land.
Bringing it home a bit, most of us remember golden moments of childhood and as we grow older, it becomes even more golden in our memories. We conveniently forget the anxieties and insecurities that surrounded our childhood.
We forget how we hated our fears and vulnerability so badly that we wanted to be adults. The moment we have a job, we imagine something better. The farther these desires, the more we romanticise them.
We could be in perfect relationships but our minds continually imagine the new person, someone who doesn’t have the real flaws of our partners. Even if we travelled the world to new places, we would simply drag along with ourselves, our discontented frames of mind.
In all these cases, if we got closer to the people we envy, to the man or woman we think are better, to that better job, we begin to see through the illusion. We see how disappointed we get when we act act upon our restless desires but it doesn’t change our behaviors.
The next object glittering in the distance will inevitably seduce us. We believe we’re so much on control, probably more adventurous but the truth is that human nature has not changed so much really. Our covetousness is a fundamental truth of human nature.
This human discontent has been helpful. If our ancestors were simply content with present situations, we would not have evolved to this point. But our restlessness has to come under conscious control because all of life’s intricate beauties exist in delicate balances.
Society today is filled with children and youths who thrive on newness with no stirring of content. This is dangerous for all of us. People must understand that most times, it is desire and not possession that intrigues us. Half the things we desire, we cannot stand.
What we really must learn is having a deeper relationship with our realities. It brings focus, clarity and practical powers to alter the things we can alter. Life is short and we only have so much energy. Led by our restlessness, we waste time and energy seeking futile changes.
There are endless challenges and fascinations for innovation when we submit to reality. By taming covetousness, we learn moderation and this is how we learn to make the present work while maintaining ambition and curiosity.
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