Why Do I Resent My Friends' Success?

It's happened to most of us.  We grow up with our childhood friends, find our way to adolescence and somehow, eventually make it to adulthood.  It's been said that life is a race, and we are all participants.  

It's cut-throat.  It's real.  

But how fortunate we are that, in this race, the participants closest to us are there not simply to finish their own race - but often times are there to support us in ours.

These are our friends, and if the above analogy is at all familiar...why is it that we feel something more akin to jealousy or bitterness when they succeed?

In our uber-competitive modern world, it can feel somewhat less than exhilarating to see a friend hit a major life milestone.  Why is this?   Is it even logical?

It's important to remember that a) we are humans, b) humans are dynamic, c) life is dynamic.  Like it or not, change is inevitable.  If you can embrace this aspect alone, you can begin to understand that your friendships and relationships are never meant to be exactly the same as they were the day before.

It's also important to remember that a race is indeed a race, and one which we would like to finish in the smoothest way possible.  If your friend takes a huge leap forward while you seem nothing but stagnant, is it at all possible that there is a huge, glaring and positive lesson for you?

Dr. Wendy joins Gary and Shannon to talk about what's going on when it feels like our friends leave us in the dust.

Read more at PsychologyToday.com


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