The thing about greed is that the more that you get, the more that you still want. In other words, all those people that declaim that if only they got this or got that, that they would be perpetually satisfied are often lying to themselves as well as to others, because when they actually are fortunate enough to obtain that very thing, that they believe would satisfy them completely, they find out to their dismay that it just doesn’t do that, for they still want more, and if they obtain that, still more, ad infinitum.
There are way too many people that actually believe that if only if they had this or had that, that they wouldn’t ask for anything more because they would no longer have any more desires; but this just doesn’t fairly represent human nature for most of us, because as much as we might appreciate that brand-new toy, or that increase in pay or status, it doesn’t take all that much time to thus transpire, before what we have achieved truly becomes yesterday’s news and we thereby want more, once again.
To want more isn’t necessarily wrong, especially when the objective of the exercise is to obtain or to achieve those things of merit or of meaning, and that are in some way, form, or manner of service to others, besides ourselves, because those that are fixated only upon what they have or what they can get, are the same that are way too self-centered and typically don’t understand that lasting satisfaction doesn’t come from selfishness but rather comes from doing the right thing, which helps us to benefit others, and inspires others to go out and to do good acts, themselves, as well.
When it comes to greed, far too many people don’t seem to realize that ignoble goals will never be satiated. Further to the point, the best way to overcome any tendency to greed is to comprehend better what it really is that we are trying to achieve, because wealth, power, status, and so on, are the type of lures that take people away not only from the straight and narrow, but essentially often corrupts their ethics so that they are no longer able to properly reflect on who and what they represent, to themselves, as well as to others.
What we should really care about is not just feathering our nest, but improving ourselves so that we can be of service to those who need our input and efforts, which thus helps to make society a better place for our good participation in it. We should be driven not by greed, but rather we should strive to be the best that we can be, as part of our obligation to those who we learned from, as well as a tribute to our mentors and family members, so that at the end of the day, we have done our good part to be faithful to that which really matters, and to leave aside, that which in the skeins of time, matters not.