Help, I’m Jealous Of My Friend’s Life! How Do I Stop?
Life was so much simpler when we were kids. Maybe we were jealous of our friend’s new toy or the fact they got to watch PG-13 movies before we did, but looking back, those things seem kind of petty now. When you grow up and become an adult, you get adult-sized challenges and adult-sized jealousies.
I used to be jealous of this new woman my age at church. She had gorgeous red hair and fashionable clothes, and she was pregnant – three things I’ve always wanted and never had. After a few months of trying not to be distracted by jealousy during the church service, I determined to become friends with her as it’s harder to be jealous of someone you know and like. As I got to know her, I discovered that as amazing as her life looked from the one-hour window a week I saw, she had previously suffered the tragic loss of not one but two babies at 20 weeks. My jealousy turned into compassion, and we ended up becoming great friends.