Little green monster

There are several people in my life that I envy for different reasons. One friend of mine, whose physical beauty I've envied since the day we met, has again had a success that I haven't matched. When I should be happy for her, all I can do is take a deep breath and think, "why do all the good things happen to her?"

So the question is this: how can I teach my children not to be jealous, both of the attainable (for example, her recent success) and the unattainable (her immense beauty)?

The only answer I have is to be watchful of my own emotions, and remind myself of my own fortune, and the "beauty" in my life. Also, I can't be jealous of something I don't dare try myself.

I once showed this friend's picture to T, saying that all men swoon for her. He said that I was much prettier. Even though I didn't believe him at first, I now see that conversation differently. I shouldn't waste my emotions being jealous of her (or maybe my time blogging about it) because to the people in my life, I'm beautiful enough - inside/outside/whatever.

Jealousy is something we all face! The grass is ALWAYS greener somewhere. Maybe I shouldn't try to protect my children from it, but have them see that we all feel jealousy sometimes. We just don't always have to react to it.

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