Jealousy

When you’re jealous of someone, you have to be willing to totally swap places with them. If you want something that another person has, you also need their health, relationships, upbringing, and more. Every thought that goes through their head would be yours.

In the process of changing places, you’d also have to give up everything you love about your current self and life. Your favorite memories and formative experiences would be gone.

This principle also holds true when you examine your own life. Maybe you wish you could have something you had when you were a child — innocence, playfulness, someone else preparing all your meals, etc. — but you’d also have to give up the wisdom and independence you acquired with age.

When we step back to consider the sacrifices that envy demands of us, jealousy often starts to recede.

Via @naval