Allow Yourself Bits of Envy.

I had lunch with a friend. We talked about many things: our kids, our lives, our careers. And we ended up trekking in what I've always seen for some reason as taboo territory: Envy. We admitted to each other that we feel envy from time to time, particularly when we see someone "in our space" succeeding. I told her something. Something I hadn't really thought about before. I told her I thought that envy - in small pinches, in tiny doses - is probably a good thing. Perhaps a symptom of caring so much, and so deeply, about things. She agreed.

I brought the topic up with some trusted writer friends. Again, there was agreement. We all feel envy from time to time. There was also agreement that envy very often feels icky and uncomfortable, that it's an ugly/unhealthy emotion we'd prefer to avoid. And now. Now I find myself wondering where I stand on this. Should we strive to strip our lives of envy or allow ourselves bits of it? I'm leaning toward the latter in part because I'm not sure life without envy would truly be possible?

♥

Do you experience envy from time to time? Do you think we should allow ourselves bits of envy?