“Friends don’t get jealous of each other or begrudge the other for finding success. They celebrate every victory together.”
— Karen Kingsbury
Are you wondering why a particular person is treating you in an unusual way?
Could it be jealousy? It is known that when someone experiences success, fame, financial gains, or just enjoys a happy and fulfilled life, they naturally attract other people’s admiration or jealousy. Jealousy is an undesirable feeling that we would all be much better off without. However, it is sadly an inseparable part of the human experience. If you find yourself unable to comprehend why someone is acting a bit off around you, understanding if they are jealous of you for some reason helps a lot.
Here are 5 telling signs you need to pay attention to.
1. They give you obviously fake compliments
A person who envies your success will often be the first to congratulate you when you get some positive news, but something about the way they do it seems a bit strange.
They might, for example, come across as way too over-excited to mask their jealousy.
They can do a great job at pretending they aren’t jealous of you, but deep down you will know that something is rotten in the way they do it.
2. They downplay your achievements
The closest people in our lives are the ones with whom we love to share our success and happiness and naturally we look forward to celebrating the special moments in our lives with them. But a person who is secretly jealous of you while posing as a dear friend will not be able to share your happiness. A definite red flag is how they react to your achievements. Do they play them down and pretend it isn’t such a big deal or completely dismiss them? Watch out if they say things like, “I could have done that too, it’s not such a big deal” or “Well, it seems like you got lucky”…
3. They see you as competition
True friends root for each other. Sure, there could sometimes be moments of rivalry, but they have enough common sense to get past it. But a person who harbors jealousy of you will see you as a threat to their own success. They will use your friendship as a stepping stone for lifting themselves up while putting you down. They will want to compete with you even if you’re not competing. And even if you’ve chosen a completely different path, they will want the same things you’re going for.
4. They respond to your good ideas by talking about their own achievements
This kind of behavior can also be subtle because everyone – to some degree or another – likes to talk about themselves, and people would likely rather tell you what they’ve been up to than listen to you talking about yourself. But if your “friend” inconsiderably changes the subject to talk about themselves while you’re sharing your good news with them, that is likely pure jealousy in action.
5. They will gloat about your mistakes
As soon as you make even the tiniest mistake or suffer the smallest loss, the jealous “friend” will be waiting to say “I told you so”. And that will make them happy and satisfied.
Do not let their rotten behavior put you down. As long as you do the right things in life there isn’t much they can do to stop you from making your dreams a reality.
For a more in-depth analysis of the topic, please see the video below.
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