While you are being envious of someone else's life, there are likely many people being envious of YOU! Photo / Getty
I had a smart and successful client use the fabulous phrase "life envy" with me last week during our Happiness Hacking coaching session.
We were discussing the downer she'd gotten on at the weekend after seeing perfect families out walking with their perfect children and their perfect dogs, which felt
deeply painful because she is currently single. All totally understandable. It's like rubbing salt into the wound when you see people effortlessly living that which seems so elusive to you. The result - an uncomfortable wave of life envy.
It's often the way, isn't it? If we are single all we see are perfect couples walking along hand in hand. Cafés positively overrun with them. If we are trying to conceive and struggling then the world seems to be full of women sporting baby bumps at every turn, and every other Facebook photo is of someone else's child doing something cute. If our job is less than stellar or your business is struggling then all of a sudden the world seems filled with people making great money doing what they love when we can't even work out what our passion is let alone make a living doing it. Any of that sound familiar?!
My client was suffering from a severe case of life envy and I think that's something most of us can relate to. Here's what you need to know about life envy and how to make it work for you.
1. Firstly, and this is important: Life envy can be positive. It can be an awesome force for good in that it can help you identify what you want in your life. That clarity is great. It can bring into really sharp relief the object of your hearts desire.
