The 7 Deadly Sins That Will Ruin Your Life

By Warren Wong

Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, the 7 deadly sins that you may or may not have heard of. First mentioned in the 6th century by Pope Gregory I and then again by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, they have become a common phrase, and a spooky reference.

Being a religious zealot is not a requirement to understand this concept, but it takes a wise person to grasp the lessons they each teach.

In a simple and enthralling manner I’m going to walk you through the 7 deadly sins, the lessons they teach and what that means for us. A simple guide on how NOT to ruin your life.

Pride, the original

Pride is considered the most serious of the seven. It is the emotional state in which your belief and love for oneself, one’s achievements, and perceived value overshadows those of others, blinding you to the truth.

In my experience pride can be both beneficial and harmful. Being prideful of your children’s achievements or successfully graduating college is hunky dory. But, pride that manifests itself into a sense of superiority in one’s race, religion, socioeconomic background can tear a society apart.

One doesn’t have to look too hard to see the ill effects of pride in our country.

While I don’t pretend to have the cure all for our society’s ills, I think we can learn from pride, also known as hubris.

In Ancient Greece, hubris was considered one of the greatest crimes, and those convicted were received with the utmost contempt.

Taking a note from the annals of history we can remind ourselves that pride in excess can prove ruinous. Through self-reflection and practice of gratitude, we can combat the effects of pride.

Greed’s Hold on You

Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.”

Through the flowery words, you can pick out the essence of what Aquinas so smartly said. We often trade our most precious resources for “earthly” things. We trade time for money, virtue for vices, and purpose for ignorance.

If we can only strip away our desires, and replace it with a blueprint of how to live, that would be so much easier, right?

Alas, that is not the case. I don’t propose that we can ever remove greed in the world, because sometimes taking the word of a rich person saying that money won’t bring you happiness to a person who never experienced true wealth is not only baffling, but tantamount to ludacris.

If we temper our greed with social virtue, and civic duty, we can perhaps find a silver lining in a clouded sky.

All is fair in lust?

Lust is intense longing or uncontrolled sexual desire. It takes form in our romantic relationships through unhealthy jealousy, suspicion, and distrust.

The religious texts speak of being smothered by fire and brimstone, but I think that may be a little outdated.

Lust can not be all bad, can it? If it is the craving of bodily pleasures, what can we say of our biological imperative to sow our seeds and to reproduce. We are continuing the human race for goodness sakes!

I think that lust becomes dangerous when it becomes uncontrolled. When you are more influenced by negative emotions than positive ones.

Sex, masturbation, intimacy, jealousy, depression, and romance are all within the wheel house in the game of love. What’s to say what is lust and what is not.

In order to live a semi-balanced life, we must ask ourselves how much is enough. Is my jealousy unhealthy? Am I clinically depressed or just sad? Is my notions of intimacy not in keeping with my partner’s?

Self-reflection and the power of truth, can set us free, but are we courageous enough to face it?

Envy’s Grip

Aristotle defined envy as the pain felt when you see another’s good fortune, wishing it were yours instead.

Characterized as wanting of qualities or things that other people have, is perhaps the most common of the 7 Deadly Sins.

Cain Kills Abel by Bartolomeo Manfredi — The genesis of wrath, Cain Kills Abel. Source: Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

In the world around us, we are envious of those spoiled by choice, wealth, and status. “Why can’t I have what he has? He’s not that great, I bet I can do that.” We’ve all been there before.

Uncontrolled envy is boundless. It begins with upgrading the home office. A week goes by and then your happiness fades, so you look for your next little project. I know, I’ll upgrade my car, this one’s old anyways. Then it’s the apartment, or the house, and even your significant other. This is known as the Hedonic Treadmill Theory. Why can’t I just be happy with what I have?

Well, one can not simply renounce all worldly possessions and set off on a journey of enlightenment (apparently Buddha did this). So, if we are in the grips of envy, is there something I can do to break free?

Perhaps, one of my favorite books on a journey on enlightenment. Get your copy of Siddhartha here.

The first step lies in self-awareness. Think back and remember those moments when you were most happy, content, and fulfilled. Images of my childhood birthdays, great personal achievements, and shared laughs with friends come to mind.

Oftentimes, what we are most envious of is far from what truly matters.

What is Gluttony?

Gluttony is the overindulgence of food and drink, as well as items of wealth and status. Aquinas took a stricter view listing forms of gluttony as eating too expensively, daintly, too much, too soon, or too eagerly. If that is the case, I am guilty as charged.

Gluttony is excessive eating leading to obesity or being such a picky eater that you won’t have anything that isn’t prepared by a chef. Teetering on the extremes, gluttony takes form in fast cars, Gucci handbags, and chasing fame.

With social media, it seems hardly bizarre that our culture has turned all these symbols of wealth and fame into the norm.

While we revel in our gluttonous ways, we don’t feel any happier nor fulfilled. Suicide, depression, and mental health issues are steadily increasing.

The cure? I believe minimalism and restraint are the first steps. In a world where options are limitless, we face a paradox of choice. We falter in choosing because we are afraid of making the wrong decision.

We want to weigh all our options and choose the best one. Therein lies the fallacy. We have too many options!

As they say, less is more.

Feel my Wrath

Anger, hatred, and rage come to mind when I envision an evil dictator vowing revenge on his enemies. Wrath often rears its ugly head when people lack empathy. When we lose sight of the other point of view, and label our opposition as a “them”, “they”, the “enemies”, we dehumanize them.

Our history is littered with examples of wrath, from civil wars, genocide, revenge killings, to domestic violence, and cyberbullying.

This article done by Psychology Today on Hitler’s psychology is fascinating. Click here.

It is normal to feel anger, but emotionally driven actions inflicted on others are reprehensible. Practice empathy instead.

Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. An empathetic leader won’t lose sight of those that oppose their views. They will listen rather than mock, understand versus argue, love rather than hate.

The next time you feel anger or hatred bubbling up, remember to take a step back, feel those emotions, think of what truly matters to you, and disengage.

Wrath is a poison you wish on your enemies, but only to find out you are poisoning yourself.

The Way of the Sloth

Marked by laziness, and a I don’t care attitude, sloth is failing to utilize the gifts you were given. The potential that you have is squandered through laziness and lack of purpose.

For instance, you would rather stay in your daily routine which you hate, because you fear the rejection of trying something new. Therefore, you relegate yourself to a life of mediocrity and what could’ve been.

Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Don’t die with your music still inside you.” Given the chance to live life just once, we should make the most of our time.

Sloth one of the 7 deadly sins — Upside down and a I don’t care vibe. What’s not to like?

Being labeled a sloth lends similarities to these furry little creatures. They are known to sleep 15 to 18 hours a day and on average only move 40 meters or just 55 steps!

Sounds like it would be cool to spend a couple of days as a sloth, but I don’t think that’s what you would want with your life! Don’t be a sloth.

How to ruin my life

There are many things that can ruin your life. Maxing out your credit cards, and buying things you can’t afford comes to mind. Or ruining all your relationships due to selfishness and anger. Stuffing your face with a double cheeseburger and washing it down with a large soda is a classic.

We all have tendencies that would ruin our lives if we let it run wild. You might not max out your credit cards, but you might buy things you don’t need to impress others, sacrificing your own finances and future to do so. Short term versus long term, comfort versus discomfort, impulse versus logic.

On the whole, I think we’ve covered how to ruin your life.

On the flipside, we have what we can avoid or at least control. The 7 deadly sins sound catchy and frightening, but they teach valuable lessons that have withstood the test of time.

You don’t have to have them tattooed on your chest like I did, but taking a few moments after reading this post to self-reflect can do wonders.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the 7 deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Take the time to write down how you stack up against each of these sins. Then come up with a simple plan of action.

Perhaps, you can practice meditation, take a few moments to journal every night, or get into the habit of exercise.

Revisit this article every so often and reflect on your progress. Rinse and repeat. The aim is to be a better version of ourselves than yesterday. If we have done that, then we can sleep well knowing we gave ourselves a chance.