One of the most uncomfortable emotions has got to be jealousy. Any time I feel it, I react like I’ve touched a hot stove, and suddenly all I can hear is, “Oh great, here we go!” and “AREN’T YOU BEYOND THIS? COME ON!”

In the online world, jealousy is always around the corner. There’s always someone who owns things that we can’t afford, someone getting a book deal, or someone who’s a little further in their career or skills than we are. If your emotional immune system isn’t at the top of its game, you can start out on Pinterest and end up with a witches brew of self loathing in less than an hour.

What a relief, to let jealousy lead you to whaty ou creave instead of resisting while it burns you to the ground (via Kyla Roma)

Several months ago there was an episode of the Design*Sponge podcast that talked about using jealousy as a positive tool to motivate you to action, instead of treating it like a nuclear weapon, and it sparked some great insights for me. In case you haven’t listened, you can read more about it and listen to Grace Bonney’s explanation here.

When jealousy is sparked in us, we make the feeling about who or what triggered it. Jealousy becomes about people who can afford a trip we can’t take or who go to the conference we can’t attend.

What if instead of letting your jealousy curdle, you let it lead you to what you deeply crave?

Instead of letting its heat turn you to ashes, what if you let your jealousy burn a path to the parts of your life that have been neglected so you can make your own life better?

I’m working on looking for that spark of jealousy now, so I can make friends with what it means for me through journaling, slowing down and creating time to think about what I need and want to create in the world.

Jealousy doesn’t have to be a rollercoaster or an enemy if you make it a call to action.

So consider….

Who is living your ideal life?
Who is taking the risks you wish you could?
Who is writing your dream blog?
Who is wrestling with the problems you can’t wait to solve?

And then ask yourself the much more important question…

What are you going to do about it?