How to Find Joy in Other’s Good Fortune

Turning Jealousy Into Inspiration

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

What tips the scales from a situation being motivating and inspiring to being discouraging and deflating? Is it the atmosphere and culture of the environment? Is it the people you are surrounded by? Is it something in your own personality?

We’ve all experienced these situations. We’ve all felt inspired by someone or something and that inspiration has motivated us to improve ourselves in some way. Conversely, we’ve all felt intimidated by the greatness that we feel is out of our league and makes us feel small and unworthy. Is it simply the magnitude of greatness we are faced with that tips the scales? If so, who is determining the level of greatness that inspires or causes intimidation? And can those levels be changed?

Undoubtedly, there are numerous factors involved in answering these questions. Each situation comes with its own set of variables and factors that go into resulting in either inspiration or deflation.

But upon closer inspection, it likely boils down to two things:

1. A perception of abundance or
2. A perception of scarcity.

When the feeling of abundance arises, we feel empowered, encouraged, and motivated. We feel like there’s enough room for us to expand and…