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Jealous Of Smart Friend - Read the Advice

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Dear Writer,

Basing your own self-esteem on a comparison to someone else is... um, not that smart. There is always going to be someone who is better than you in some way. Even Nobel Prize winners watch someone else take the prize a year later. You need to build your own self-esteem, that is rooted in self-belief and a knowledge of your own accomplishments, and is not fragile enough to be damaged by someone else's achievements.

You are jealous of your friend, and that is going to be poisonous to your friendship. I think you need to understand that just because your friend is getting praise and love from others, it doesn't mean there is less of that to go around for you. Instead of trying to go head-to-head with your friend, you have to (1) learn to genuinely congratulate her on doing well, (2) stop trying to make your friend feel bad for just being who she is (that is not friendly!), and (3) find out what you're good at, pursue it, and take pride in it.

So how can you find out what you're good at? You'll have to try a whole bunch of new things, that's how. Make a list of things you haven't tried before - it could include sporty stuff, musical instruments you might attempt playing, drama, writing short stories or poetry, being a part of school government, doing charitable work like fundraising activities, and so on. Then figure out what you can do to start trying some of those activities. (You could try out for a sports team; try out for the school play; practise your writing skills; talk to people in your school clubs; work on plans for creating a bake sale to benefit charity or the school treasury; etc).

As you can see, this is going to take some effort on your part. Effort is exactly what is required here - and that is part of what you need to learn. Your friend isn't just intelligent, she probably works hard at her schoolwork and participates in class. You may have hidden talents, but you will need to work at bringing them to the fore, and practising them so you get good at them.

Keep your energies focused on you, and what you can do, and not on your friend and how she is "stealing" your attention. A big part of what makes a person likeable is that she is able to support and cheer on others, instead of just being absorbed with her own self and how she is perceived. I hope that makes sense to you, and helps you in growing into your talents.

 



 

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