Jealousy is a natural human emotion. Everyone has felt this emotion some time in their lives. When my family went through challenging times, this emotion became amplified in me.

I Would See Others Living Their “Perfect” Lives

Everywhere around me at work and parties, I felt my co-workers and friends were living happy go lucky lives. I felt their families’ finances were spectacular and they went on lovely vacations together.

It seemed like things were so easy for them. But how did I really know? To tell you the truth, my family’s lives seemed picture perfect from the outside. No one really knew the reality. So how could I jump to assumptions about other people?

This can be a dangerous mindset to get trapped into because you start to look down on yourself. You start to compare yourself too much with everyone.

Whatever Progress You are Making Does Not Seem Enough

When my father had a stroke and suddenly everything changed, it was not easy. We had to take every step carefully. And at times, the simplest of things being accomplished was like a major step in the right direction.

But when I compared my life to everyone else’s, the progress was not enough. I pushed myself harder. What was the point? I kept trying to force myself to do more because I was comparing myself. It was all in my head.

I Started to Turn Inward

Everything changed when I started becoming more conscious of my thoughts and feelings. I turned inward and created my own definition of happiness and success. I didn’t need to use someone else’s metric. Only mine. And that’s when things started shifting for the best…

What is your biggest takeaway from this post? Please share with me in the comments.