Greed - What are Toys For?

by Richard C. Raynard, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Greed is like the frog who gets used to warming water and boils his life away.

I want it!

Greed begins with simple envy - I want what you have. Imagine you are a 3 year old, playing with another toddler. You enjoy beating your drum. But your playmate is squealing with delight shaking his tambourine. You think, "He's happier than me with his toy. I want it" and you grab it away. It doesn't bother that he is protesting or unhappy. You play with the tambourine a little then hide it away. You think, "What else does he have"? You have forgotten your own toy.

Soon, you are deluged by the media with toys, gadgets, and whistles that promise delirious excitement and pleasure, spending hours every day in envy. With your PC and cell come the next big thing in apps, games, adventures, the latest bling. Well-endowed friends rub it in. Along with envy comes the feeling of being left out, a sense of insecurity, the emotion of powerlessness. "More or bigger" seems to be the answer.

As a teen, as you form a sense of who you are, you may feel you are nothing at all without the right clothes, music, cell phone, events, travels, wheels, friends and followers. The American dream haunts you of "having it all". Fear and anger can be added to your envy and insecurity, if you feel you are not making it.

To your relief, you seem to find a way. The problem is, there is always someone who has more than you and raises envy to a pain. You may then get caught up in a way of life called greed, where you have forgotten how to play, and either store  your toys away, or display them for others to envy.

The bigger picture is a world of rich and poor, of tribal struggle, or corporate lords and impoverished workers, power-driven politicos and disempowered citizens, greedy dictators and the forgotten.

Yet, most toddlers learn to share, to try out toys, and return to the toys they like best. In time, they play what they most enjoy and learn the skills and sharing that goes with them. Further on, they learn what are their lasting satisfactions and gives most meaning in their lives. Rather than greed, they learn gratitude for all that life gives them.

It's always a good time to jump out the heating water and into you own kind of pool.

 About Dr. Raynard
Dr. Richard Raynard is a licensed clinical psychologist with 35 years experience resolving a broad range of emotional problems. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has specialized in anxiety and phobic disorders since 1980, he has spent the last 35 years fulfilling his life-long desire to explore and define the true purpose of emotions and how people can easily use emotions to create meaning and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Raynard's series of books on emotions can be found on Amazon.com. His other books include Don't Panic, and Anxiety & Panic Medications.

Emotions and the Theater of Life

by Richard C. Raynard, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Emotions are everywhere, every moment, however buried or concealed, and they help form the roles we play in the theater of life. Every activity is driven by emotions.

The appeal of emotion can be in car design, clothing, music, sports, crowds, politics - everywhere. After all, every human event or product is brought about by a warm-blooded human being. No matter how remote the person at work appears - the scientist, the surgeon, the ambassador - all have emotions that vary moment to moment, nudge or pull, and lead one to next thing and the next.

I want your toys

This is why I write about such diverse theaters of life, like the classroom, mass shootings, the playground, inventions, families, cooking and more. We all bring our emotion-driven needs, desires, sentiments, interests, and satisfactions to each setting in our daily life.

The motivation for our actions in all the theaters of life, I believe, can be best understood by the emotions and their combinations. Why would anyone accumulate so much stuff that he cannot possibly use and enjoy, so that he either stores it or displays it? The emotion is envy: I want what you have; it seems better than what I have; and having it makes me feel more secure and better than you. The emotions relating to competition, dominance, in-group and control are recruited along the way. In time the emotion of envy hardens into a way of life called greed. We have created a theater of life in which you never have enough.

Yes, life is a stage and we are players on it, but it is also a real and earnest role we play.

In my writings I invite you to witness real-life drama in all the  theaters of life.

About Dr. Raynard
Dr. Richard Raynard is a licensed clinical psychologist with 35 years experience resolving a broad range of emotional problems. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has specialized in anxiety and phobic disorders since 1980, he has spent the last 35 years fulfilling his life-long desire to explore and define the true purpose of emotions and how people can easily use emotions to create meaning and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Raynard's series of books on emotions can be found on Amazon.com. His other books include Don't Panic, and Anxiety & Panic Medications.