Difficult emotions take time to work through...

Staying with difficult emotions is hard. It is hard on you and on those around you. Any emotion can be difficult, good or bad ones, but here we are looking at the bad ones.

Envy is a terrible feeling, and one that can lead to feelings of anger, frustration, impotence and inferiority (amongst others). Envy is often brought about by seeing others, often those perceived to be in a higher position than yourself, achieving or obtaining things that you want. It is a very difficult feeling to deal with, as you do not want to look upon others negatively. You are better than that.

So why is it when you see someone with a better car, dressed differently (usually smarter than you), or acting confidently in difficult or challenging situations, that you view them with contempt, and that the feelings mentioned earlier (mostly negative) arise?

This is not a good way to approach a problem, with negative feelings and attitudes, as this creates more problems. The negatives can multiply rapidly into a seething cauldron of hatred or depression, with anger rising to the top. Not good.

So what should you do? The opposite. Think about why you feel the way you do, what does that say about you? There can be a lot of feelings and thoughts jumbled up together that need careful examination and investigation over time. But the first step is to recognise the feelings that arise and accept them.

Be with these feelings, think carefully and clearly, then move on. Move forwards in a positive manner without looking back. This isn't always easy to do, but acceptance and understanding of feelings and emotions is the biggest and most important step in the process, and it really does get easier the more you do it.