The title to this post is an exact quote of  a recent comment that was left for me in response to my upcoming trip to Paris, and it completely inspired me and this is why...

First my official disclaimer: This post you’re about to read is in no way shape or form about passing judgement on the comment, because considering how many times I’ve felt this way and even said this exact sentiment to people ~if I was passing judgement,  I’d be a big ol' hypocrite. 

So there. 

And now on to my my point. What I’ve come to realize about this completely normal human emotion is that a} normal as it may be, it really sucks when you feel it and b}  any time you feel jealousy, it is giving you clues to what you really want in your own life.

That’s right jealousy is alerting you to your dreams.

You know how sometimes it’s hard to know what you truly want? Really, ask yourself or anyone you know this question right now, and see what answer{s} come up. Many times when I’ve asked this question, and following a very long pause I often hear "I don’t know?" accompanied by a slight sound of surprise ~ because you should know right? I think yes, we should know what we want, or at least be on the way to figuring it out. The truth is, very often, we only really know what we don’t want. And while that is a gooding starting point, knowing what you want is key.

This is why experiencing jealousy is so great! {odd to call jealousy great, I know, but this is the Creative Thursday blog, and you know I’m going to put a positive spin on it}

When the feeling of jealousy or envy sneak up on you, it feels bad because we want what the other person is living and somewhere inside of us, we might not believe that we can have it too. When you want something you think you can’t have, it feels frustrating, disappointing, sad, all around 'ick'. 

This is where I want to suggest that as soon as you feel the 'ick' come on, why not turn it around? identify what it is you want, then take that a step further and believe that you too can have it too. Even if  you think it may not be possible to have it, I challenge you to think you can and move forward in the direction of getting it. I know sometimes it’s not possible to have exactly what someone else is living, but you can get close. Because here’s the other thing, at the basis of what you want is a feeling accompanying the want and the feeling is really what you’re after, let’s say more freedom, or experiencing more happiness for example. Once you identify the feeling you want to experience more of, options open up for the way that it will happen for you. And I’ve found that when you stay open to all the ways it can happen for you, and trust that it will happen, what you want will occur in the best possible way just for you. It’s true. Also, another benefit of turning jealousy around, is that instead of envying someone, you become genuinely happy for them.

I just wanted to share this with you, because I know that our trip to Paris might be stirring it up for people, in a good way. I know whenever I’ve seen someone reach for a desire and achieve it, it makes me want to do the same. Better yet, it makes me believe I can do the same, insert "my upcoming trip to overseas" here. In a weird way, I now appreciate a lot of the people I’ve felt jealous of in the past, because if they hadn’t lived what made me jealous, I wouldn’t have reached for it myself. 

So, hey! thank you all people who I have been jealous of. You inspire me to reach for more in my life.