So, what do all of these have in common? From my own understanding (having experienced, as I think we all have at some point, all of these), I see these emotional attributes having one overarching theme.

They bring about isolation.

Pride can make you overconfident which would stop you utilising resources around you. Others will see that you’re not performing as best you can and could be heading straight for disaster. You still think you’re great at your job. Disaster strikes. You can’t handle it. You’re made to look incompetent. No one wants to work with you.

With envy, there’s a fixation element. A person will be stuck on, generally, one person but rather than aspire to be like them, they instead develop an unhealthy obsession over what the other person has versus what they don’t.

Rather than try to progress themselves to become better and, maybe, get to a similar level of the object of their envy, they build up a lot of resentment towards that person and themselves.

Again, this leads to a person being isolated because they’ll stop being present in their own lives and will always be comparing themselves to their target. Paranoia and cynicism can set in where you can start trying to find any dirt and pin it on your target so you can get some kind of perverted satisfaction out of knocking them down a few pegs.

Ultimately, if envy starts to leak out into your life where you start picking on people that you perceive to be better, others will pull away because they don’t want to be associated with you and, more importantly, don’t want to be infected with your toxicity.

Gluttony can manifest in a number of ways depending on a person’s disposition. If they’re a foodie, they’ll eat too much and get fat. A fitness freak will spend too much time at the gym. A shopaholic will buy way too much stuff. You get the idea.

Gluttony, the first of the sins of desire, is, in my eyes, an outward projection of how a person sees themselves and they will justify their actions accordingly despite them being unhealthy in other ways. In the case of the shopper, they will likely tell themselves they have enough money and have ‘worked hard’ to earn themselves a little reward. But what about savings, investments and pensions? Are they over-exerting themselves on driving a fancy car on lease rather than buy an equally fancy car used?

If they’re at the gym all the time, why are they there? Are they a bodybuilder or athlete? Ballet dancer? There’s a difference between someone doing exercise as part of an occupation or hobby compared to general fitness compared to an unhealthy obsession. I see lots of women at the gym chasing the ‘big booty’ and lots of guys looking to get ‘ripped’. A few weeks ago, I renewed my gym membership. I went and did my first strength session in three months. My first exercise was a lateral pull down. I started with 30kgs either side to see how it felt. Felt easy so I went and piled the weight on to 55kgs each side. That felt manageable. After the set, a guy asked if I was done. I said I had one more set. He asked if he could hop on whilst I rested. I agreed and let him get on with things. He didn’t change the weight but as I watched this guy (who looked a lot fitter than me), I saw him struggle. His form was poor, he was jerky and uncontrolled whereas I had been slow, steady and smooth. He finished and asked if I wanted another 10kgs either side. I did so he put on the weight. I sat down, did eight reps at 65kgs each side and finished. I had pushed heavier before stopping the gym, but this was me pushing the limit of my first week back.

The guy got on again and I watched him for a bit as he struggled with poor form yet again and all I could think was, Why? Was he in competition? Did he have something to prove to himself? Did he not like that a seemingly less fit looking guy was pushing more than him? Whatever the reason, I saw it as potentially unhealthy behaviour. How did he get so toned yet struggle with a moderate weight for the given exercise?

Anyway, I’m rambling. My point here is, to bring it back to gluttony, is that if a person looks fit yet can’t perform an exercise that looks well within their capabilities then have they achieved the look through other means? Exercise is certainly an important way of achieving a certain look, but actors speed up the results using steroids and other drugs.

So, if a person is obsessed with achieving a particular body shape then what other unhealthy behaviours are, they indulging in to achieve it?

In the case of the foodie, if they have gotten overweight, are they happy like that? Some will be and will accept how they are or will recognise they need to trim things down but don’t put too much pressure on.

If they’re not happy then what is the food replacing and why do they ‘need’ so much of it? Is it a lack of self-control and self-discipline? Are they unhappy in their own skin but, being a foodie rather than a fitness person, do they look to food as way of getting the dopamine hit? If that’s the case, then a vicious cycle begins because they won’t do exercise to burn the calories and they won’t watch what they eat from lack of self-control, so they just get bigger and bigger.

Are they unhappy in their relationship? Do they feel neglected? Has sex disappeared? Food is a common substitute for intimacy but it’s certainly a poor one.

Gluttony isolates in a similar way to envy only the unhealthy obsession is with yourself rather than another person. The term ‘glutton for punishment’ is appropriate because gluttony is an act of self-harming regardless of how it looks on the outside. Only the glutton knows the real reason why they indulge so much on one thing.

Greed, the second, is similar to gluttony, however, I see it as the polar opposite. Greed is about being consumed by the pursuit of the material and the superficial. A person may try to feed themselves with wealth, property, cars, clothes amongst other things but ultimately, will be unfulfilled. Yet, because they have no meaningful pursuits or no way to identify what is meangful to them, they continue to obtain more and more. Eventually, they become overwhelmed and end up being controlled by a lifestyle that is, realistically, not sustainable. The pursuit of such things deters anyone who previously wanted to engage and connect thus isolating the greed-ridden person only to leave them to their unquenchable thirst and impossible chase. The endeavour will consume the afflicted and their life will be controlled by that which they desire.

Lust, on the other hand, isolates by turning a person into an object or a fetish. If sex, and all its accompanying components, is their obsession, then you have to wonder if they can look beyond the chemistry and look at the person underneath? Can they form a relationship? Are they mature enough to commit? Are they responsible? Like gluttony and greed, there is an issue with self-control. A person engaging in lustful activities can end up spreading themselves too thin to the point where it’s no longer people having sex but more about what’s going in where. The human aspect disappears and the focus in using a certain body part to achieve pleasure. It’s why one-night stands can feel so cold afterwards.

Recognising how sloth isolates is much easier. The person can’t be bothered to make an effort. Social engagements, work, family commitments, eating habits, you name it, it’s all too much effort for a sloth. No matter how much encouragement, patience, understanding or support is given, if they can’t be bothered to recognise the help then why should others bother to offer help? Eventually, they’ll stop, and the sloth will be alone. At some point, they’ll see but it may be too late to do anything by then.

Wrath is also fairly easy to see how it isolates. Anger generates fear or more anger which leads to some steering clear and others trying meet the Wrath head on. Fighting fire with fire only creates more fire and pulling away gives more space for the fire to spread thus increasing the radius of isolation. The more angry a person is perceived to be the more distance is put between them. Either that or people get burned if they fail to put the fire out.

For the bonus, naivety brings about isolation when others recognise you’re an easy target. Like sloth, people will be sympathetic at first and offer help in showing you the ropes. But if you’re not picking it up and just not displaying any kind of intelligence or awareness then you’ll just be seen as incompetent. Showing a willingness to learn is one thing but you must be able to retain knowledge and use it in your current situation even it’s a new one to you. Being able to adapt is a skill and shows others you can stand your ground and assert yourself. If you keep wandering blindly into things, you’re going to make a mess and end up doing harm.

Yes, people make mistakes through lack of knowledge. That’s fine. That’s human. But continuing to make the same mistakes shows a sheer lack of concern, respect and ability to learn. Therefore, the good and capable people move away from you because you’re beyond their help. Once you’re exposed, the sharks move in and that’s when you end falling prey to your own stupidity.

If you’ve read this then you have my appreciation and gratitude. If you have any points of discussion, please leave them in the comments section.