Teen Breathe Magazine

Ever felt excited to show off something new to your friends, but then when you had the chance another friend jumped in, exclaiming: ‘Look what I got!’, holding up their amazing buy or gift? Maybe you quietly put your new possession to one side and listened as everyone admired your friend’s latest get. You should be happy for them, so why did you feel ignored and, dare you say it, a little envious?

Comparing what we have with that of others is a natural part of life, and everyone does it. It harks back to our caveman days, when noticing that someone had more of what you needed – such as food, for example – could have meant the difference between life and death. Being jealous is perfectly normal, and there’s nothing wrong with feeling it: it’s what you do with it that matters.

Thankfully, since those early caveman days, our brains have evolved to recognise our emotions and think them through. The tendency to compare may always be with us, but today we can choose to try to remember what we do have instead. As the famous saying goes: ‘Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.’