Jealousy has nothing to do with the person you are jealous of. When you feel jealous of someone, the feeling is really pointing to the fact that it’s time for you to work for the thing you’re jealous of. For instance, if a friend tells you about a jump she made in her career and you feel a twinge of jealousy, it means you need to make a jump in your career or in your life. It doesn’t mean that you need to make the same kind of jump, but rather that you need to look at whether you’re being too complacent in your life and whether it is time to step it up by taking new classes, getting a new certification, writing a book, etc.

Now don’t confuse jealousy with the feeling you have when people try to make you envious of them by broadcasting how fabulous their lives are. Anyone who is trying to win the envy of others is usually quite insecure and is doing it to squash a feeling of inadequacy they have. People who are rich, beautiful or smart that are confident, don’t try to make you envious of them. The best response to someone who is trying to do this is to not react at all, but if you need to react than you can feel compassion for their insecurity.

Excerpted from the book How to Be Happy NOW…Even if Things Aren’t Going Your Way, available on Amazon, Amazon UK and Amazon DE. © 2013 – 2014 Sara Weston.  A FREE excerpt of the book is available here.