Why Feeling Jealous of Your Friends’ Success is Normal

It’s common to envy our close friends’ success and accomplishments. We grew up together, under the same circumstances, and we see them breaking away from the herd to live their wildest dreams or challenge the status quo. This self-analysis can be uncomfortable, diving into our deep fears and questioning why we haven’t made the same bold and freeing moves in our lives. But instead of facing our fears, we respond with envy, thinking “it’s not fair that they have that and I don’t.”

This jealousy stems from the resistance to break free from the herd, and it’s important to keep this feeling in check before it grows into a raging beast that affects our happiness. If we obsess over being jealous, we can never have what they have. However, if we reframe this energy, we can replace our envy with inspiration.

Dial Down Jealousy: Practical Tips

Ponder Things You Don’t Envy about Your Friend’s Lives

When we see our successful friends’ posts on social media, we only see the highlight reel of their lives. We envy their success but fail to see their failures, struggles, and hard work. We need to realize that every successful person worked long and hard to become that way, and they had to dive into their deepest fears regularly to live their dreams. Before we envy someone’s success, we need to think about their journey to reaching their goals. This will help us admire their success rather than be jealous of it.

Build a Gratitude List in the Morning

Jealousy stems from focusing on what we don’t have rather than what we do have. Building a gratitude list, whether it’s spoken or written, moves our attention from what we lack to what we have. This helps us feel more whole and complete, reducing the feeling of jealousy towards our friends’ success. A morning gratitude list sets a positive tone for the rest of our day.

Press the Jealousy Rewind Button

Sometimes, jealous feelings towards our friends and family can stem from past experiences. To clear these feelings, we need to relive them in our imagination, feeling the emotions that surface. This will help us frame our friend’s success from a healthier and balanced space. Clearing jealous feelings from the past will help us maintain healthy relationships with our loved ones.

Summary

Jealousy is a common feeling towards our close friends’ success. It stems from our resistance to break free from the herd. Instead of facing our fears, we respond with envy, thinking “it’s not fair that they have that and I don’t.” However, if we reframe this energy, we can replace our envy with inspiration. To reduce the feeling of jealousy, we should ponder things we don’t envy about our friend’s lives, build a gratitude list in the morning, and press the jealousy rewind button to clear jealous feelings from the past. This will help us maintain healthy relationships with our loved ones and admire their success rather than be jealous of it.