I think I figured out why 'bad mind' is such a common phrase in Jamaica today. Every song has something about bad mind. Every time someone tries to put someone on the right path, people tell them they bad mind. Bad mind, bad mind, bad mind ... blah ... blah ... blah. It's ridiculous.

That aside though, I have come to realise that while there is no justification for our obsession with 'bad mind', there are reasons why we have found this obsession. Bad mind, or envy as regular folk know it, is considered to be one of the seven deadly sins but it's something everyone experiences. I can't lie. Whenever I see those stories about some lucky lottery winner collecting a fat cheque for like US$400 million, I do feel a pang of envy.

I often wished it was me. Who wouldn't want to have US$400 million? I would buy a nice little house somewhere and my wife wouldn't have to work another day in her life (unless she wanted to) and my kids would go to the best schools and have the best of everything. But all of that lasts for five minutes and then I am off to face reality once again.

The problem comes when we begin to be obsessed over what other people have that we don't have. In Jamaica, the envy works both ways. People who live in Jamaica's growing inner-city communities envy those people living uptown for the Range Rover vehicles they drive, the big houses they live in, their visas and green cards and the fact that they are not harassed and slaughtered on a daily basis by the police.

Meanwhile, those uptown envy those who live downtown for their cultural expression and their freedom - the freedom to 'get on bad' without facing public scrutiny from their employers, prospective employers or potential business partners.

wasteful

When you look at how poor people behave, if they get a little money there is no surprise about what drives them to be wasteful. Once they get money, it is hardly ever about investing or doing something with it that will ensure that their lives will be better from that point onwards. It's always mainly about buying something that will tell people that they got some money.

Everybody aspires to be better off in life but having an expensive phone, for example, doesn't mean you are better off, it just says you are showing off. I see people flashing Samsung S4s and begging bus fare. It's crazy.

It's also why we often hear stories of people being shot or robbed of their smartphones. Some of us can't stand the idea of someone having something that we can't have.

The well-to-dos engage in their 'downtown behaviour' at their private parties when they think nobody is looking and at their more socially acceptable 'carnival' events. It's almost like they're saying, 'I am only doing this because of this event', while deep inside they are just dying to break free and tap into that freak inside.

The thing for me is I grew up hearing that one should never be envious of another person for the things they own because you never know how they came by it. Over time, I have come to see that teaching is so very true. I used to see girls pine over men who have no obvious means of work but who are driving vehicles that cost more than even the richest among us can't afford to own. Yet, when they run into trouble or get killed on some dark corner people behave as if they're shocked. I guess they were too busy being blinded by the 'bling' to see what was really happening.

I guess what I am trying to say is that there is no need to be envious of what other people have. See what they have and move on. Go in search of your own, legally. When you achieve your goals you will find the happiness in the accomplishment.