23/09/2011

I can't feel happy for… (2)

Okay, so if you did your homework from yesterday’s post, you should have a name or two (or several) of people who bring out the worst in you. No matter how hard you try, you can’t feel happy for them.

Now, think of the answers to these questions:

Why does that person’s success make you feel bad?

What feelings do you get when you hear that something went the wrong way for that person? Why do you think you have those feelings?

How do you explain those feelings? What do you tell yourself to justify having them?

What would have to change in you for you to feel good about that person’s success? What is stopping that change?

What can you do, beginning right now, to start moving towards that changed heart?

Yes, you are suffering from an envious heart. Maybe you’re judging that person from your own experiences and struggles in life. Deep down, an almost inaudible voice tells you, “Who does she think she is to get everything handed to her on a platter, when I had to struggle for every little crumb I ever got in life? That’s not fair.”

You are a prisoner of your past and ill-formed principles and values.

The good news is you can change that. But you need to go to the root. And now that you know what it is, be ruthless. Cut it off.

You will feel so different and so free.