By Karen / Original Article
When it comes to jealousy, these three words are often considered a "negative emotion." Think about it—when you feel jealous, don't you want to quickly eliminate that thought? Don't you feel a sense of guilt, a kind of cognitive dissonance? So you rush to think positively and smooth over that feeling?
Actually, jealousy itself is a good thing.
Using myself as an example, from my university days, I really "envied" certain friends around me and people in my circle who could live without worries—and though it sounds materialistic, that kind of carefree life gave them the freedom to choose and do what they wanted. Often they could accomplish more than I could.
One day I wrote in my status: "unwilling to be ordinary." Once, I was thinking about it and accidentally shed tears in class. My close friend saw it, so I quickly looked down and wiped my tears, pretending nothing happened. But that friend actually comforted me that day, saying "mediocrity is a blessing."
At that time, I couldn't quite understand this feeling of envy—I just felt inferior, as if no matter how hard I worked, I could never be like them. It wasn't until I grew older and looked at my own experience and abilities from an objective third-party perspective that I realized I had already reached a point where I could establish my own value. Yet I still felt like there was so much lacking.
Often we use others' achievements to blame ourselves for not being excellent enough. We envy how others can live such good lives—for example, traveling abroad once every one or two months, not just to nearby Japan and Korea, but to European and American countries. Sometimes I even felt childish for being jealous of others.
But later, I understood something: clarifying the origin of jealousy allows you to dissolve the imbalance. Many "achievements" aren't things you can't attain—they depend on you: whether you'll execute, whether you'll work hard, whether you'll persist, whether you'll take a risk, whether you'll close your back door. Don't just look at others; instead, examine what resources you have, and think further about how to allocate them, how to strengthen yourself, how to achieve your goals, and focus your heart on your target—to become the person others envy.
In other words, keep this jealousy. Nietzsche proposed a similar view: every bit of jealousy drives you to understand that you shouldn't settle easily for where you are now, because you'll keep growing. Every person you currently envy and admire could become who you are in the future.
