Believe it or not, the holiday season is fast approaching.
Although some (myself included) say these months make up the best time of the year, I also believe this season can make people go crazy.
The seven deadly sins are a universal concept. We’re human, and we’re all guilty of them at one point or another. The good thing is we actually have this thing inside us called self-control.
Sloth has to be the most comforting of these sins. It’s easy to spend all these long weekends and days off doing absolutely nothing. Just don’t forget before the full Winter Break arrives, there are exams to pass, end-of-year reports to prepare and more.
Some see sloth as taking or receiving more than you give. It never hurts to be charitable. Start small, keep giving, and you’ll be surprised at how generous you can actually be.
Greed can be defined as an obsession with possessions. I can’t fail to mention the intriguing yet horrific stories of post-Thanksgiving Black Friday shopping. People stay up into the late hours of the night, wait in long lines in the cold and in some cases, physically hurt themselves and/or others in an attempt to get a good deal on something like a new electronic device.
I hope you don’t think getting a new television at a low cost is worth your safety or sanity.
Gluttony refers to any kind of overindulgence. For me personally, holiday meals constitute my heaviest food consumption of the entire year. We take off work and school to celebrate these holidays. Because lavish meals are a traditional part of many celebrations, can’t we say we essentially take off work and school to eat? It’s a funny concept.
Remember, there is a difference between satisfying your needs and satisfying your wants. We’re so self-centered, we’ve managed to blur the line between the two.
A man’s pride can keep him from doing a lot of things. I fall guilty to this and refuse to ask anybody for anything. Otherwise, pride easily leads to the concept of narcissism.
Lately I’ve been noticing that a lot of people are simply very into themselves. I feel you miss out on so much in life when all you can focus on is the person in the mirror. Loving yourself isn’t a bad thing at all, but how much is too much?
Confidence is a great thing, but the ego can make us do terrible things — including lose focus on who and what is actually important.
Envy is easy to fall guilty to. It’s not at all difficult to become a little jealous of the people around you, especially during the holiday season. Other people will receive extravagant gifts and take extravagant trips while you’re working a seasonal job or babysitting the younger members of your extended family at home.
Don’t be bitter about it. Life will be different for everybody. We’ve got to learn to appreciate and accept it.
Envy can easily turn into wrath. Anger is a natural emotion, but everyone experiences it at different levels. We also express it and deal with it differently. Just don’t let it make you say or do something you’ll later regret.
An unhealthy desire for something constitutes lust. The old song says “breaking up is hard to do,” but I’d say (today especially) controlling lust is much harder to do.
Let’s make it clear that lust takes many forms. Whether it be money, a person, a certain gift — don’t let yourself get wrapped up in wanting something you would probably be just fine without.
I hope the start of the holiday season treats you well.
Enjoy all the time off and spend it with who you love, doing something, anything, worthwhile.
Anayo Ordu is an advertising sophomore at UF. Her column appears on Tuesdays. You can contact him via opinions@alligator.org.
