Envy is a scary emotion to feel. When you fail to be conscious of it, envy can make you miserable, sad, and bitter. Life becomes a competition and you view everyone as your rival. Envy makes you feel unhappy or just generally discontented with yourself and life. If there is one emotion that we should learn to overcome, it should be envy. Here are some tips to overcome envy.
Everyone has different abilities and strengths. By that alone, you should know that it is useless to try and compete against others. You should only try to compete with yourself. You should focus on how you can improve yourself based on your past performances than always comparing yourself against how others perform. You can’t win that way. If you make your own plans and own your achievements, then you will slowly forget about how other fare against you.
You are more likely to feel envious of others if you are unaware of all the blessings in your life. To counter this, you should try to regularly identify things that you are grateful for. The more you realize that you have so many things, people, and experiences to be thankful for, the less reason you have to envy others.
You are more prone to envy if you think that everyone is out to take opportunities away from you. However, if you learn to develop an abundance mentality, you won’t be afraid of losing out. There are so many things in store for you that you wouldn’t think that people are taking opportunities away from you. Think positive and feel the world open up for you.
I’m sure you already know by now that life is about taking chances and risks. People who succeed are not afraid to go out of their comfort zone and work for what they want. If you envy successful people, maybe you should follow their example. Learn to empower yourself, go out of your comfort zone, and seize the day. Stop sitting on the sidelines and take responsibility for your life.
Stop watching people live their lives. Follow your passions and do the things that give you happiness and a sense of achievement. Have fun and explore the world around you. Learn to create your own happiness and satisfaction.
When you look at the lives of certain people, you may get the impression that they don’t have any problems. But let’s be realistic. Even the most successful people have their own problems, insecurities, weaknesses, and failures. Things didn’t always come easy for them. When you see all this, you will realize that they are human just like you.
The people you envy have succeeded for a reason. Try to see what it is that they are doing right and learn from them. Instead of envying them, maybe you can make them your mentor or inspiration.
When you compare yourself to others, you make your soul a breeding ground for envy. Instead of making comparisons, maybe it’s time that you get to know yourself better. Know your goals and create action plans so that you don’t envy other people’s achievements. Build your self-esteem and confidence and know what you want out of yourself and your life.
When you are disconnected from the people around you, are more likely to envy them. And likewise, when you envy others, you find yourself working against them and thus creating a disconnection. Your success, everyone’s successes, should improve the world and the lives of people. When you view success in this way, I’m sure you will be happy for successful people instead of envying them.
There is an English proverb that goes, “Envy shoots at others and wounds itself.” I’m sure you agree with me that this completely describes how envy affects your life if you feel it. You may think all your badmouthing and envious thoughts will bring someone down. But in reality, you are only bringing yourself down. Learn to overcome envy and you will live a fuller life. Please share your experience with envy and how you overcame it.
Top Photo Credit: Mandy_Jansen