It is completely NORMAL to be jealous of other’s health as you continue to battle for yours and as your health continues to deteriorate. I wish this was something that someone would have prepared me for in my journey with chronic illness (mitochondrial disease)… for years I found it incredibly hard to see others my age and watch how they were carrying on with life doing all the things I was unable to do because they were afforded the luxury of health…. Graduating college, starting careers, purchasing houses, having children, get promotions, upgrading to nicer houses, vacationing, exercising, participating in community/social activities which were beyond my body’s abilities… and more.
I would find it hard to talk to these friends without feeling jealousy and sadness after, hard to scroll through social media and see all I was missing out on… these feelings are all normal - BUT… these feelings are also extremely detrimental to your overall wellness and your emotional health… there is a famous saying that “comparison is the their of joy”… and this is 100% true in my experience.
How I have coped/improved in this area is I recognize the feelings, and give myself permission to have them however I just as quickly re-direct my mind by listing 10 things I DO have in my life that I am grateful for as gratitude is the basis of joy! when I am having particularly hard, dark days… i stay off social media, and have a PRE-planned set of movies or Vlogs etc. to consumer which I know in advance are not triggering to my emotional well being. Lastly, I have been studying and practicing Buddhist teachings for many years now, and in particular I like to focus on the teachings of “Mudita’” which is a Sanskrit word which means joy; especially sympathetic or vicarious joy, delighting form other people’s pleasure. It can be a challenging practice, but with time and patience, you can truly feel blissful joy for your loved ones, friends, or even random strangers who you see experiencing joy and let this be your first emotion and radiate positivity and happiness for them versus negative feelings of jealousy and envy which do nothing but harm you and put negativity into the world.
Comments