I grew up viewing jealousy as a bad habit that should be acknowledged only long enough to then actively suppress it. Yet, this type of coping never left me satisfied and I earnestly wanted to seek a useful application for jealousy.

I think that the first step is acceptance- “Ok, I have this feeling of jealousy or envy.” Then, you want to shift your thinking so as not to automatically see it as bad. I dug deeper and found that jealousy for me can be transformed into motivation to seek the things I want. In this way, when I have these jealous feelings, instead of shunning them and feeling guilty for having them, I can begin to use that energy to manifest that which I do want. That feels quite a lot better.

So, just as being selfish is not as black and white as good and bad, I find that jealousy- when viewed differently- can be good for you and push you forward.