Are you familiar with the term “Frenvy”? The other day, I was pleasantly surprised to not only learn of this word but also to discover that it perfectly describes a feeling that I experience pretty often. In case you are also clueless about this word, as I was until two days ago, it basically means to be jealous of a friend. Doesn’t sound like something anyone would aspire to; however, I have definitely felt the sting of jealously after having learned of a friends success in some area of their life. And, until I read an article in the July issue of O Mag titled When Envy Strikes by Christie Aschwanden, feeling this way toward a good friend made me feel like a terrible person. In the article, Aschwanden explains that there are two types of envy – one that is positive and one that is negative. The negative one comes from a negative place (no shock there) and causes a person to wish for bad things to happen to the person that they are envious of. The positive type, which is the one that I experience from time to time, can actually be a motivating factor. It is the type that makes you think, as Aschwanden perfectly puts it,”If she can do it, so can I”. This is the exact thing I feel when I am around some of my old college friends who still have their wonderfully toned college bodies – I don’t wish more cellulite upon them, I just hit the gym even harder!
Joy
Categories: Motivation
31 Days :: Day 22 – Accept The Challenge 
31 Days :: Day 15 – Do Not Rely On The Applause 
31 Days :: Day 10 – Fake It Until You Make It 
Coffee with Joy 
Such a good word! And I definitely know what envy from a good place comes from – every time I’m in the gym, I get super jealous of my friends for being super crazy fit (they’re professional fighters, so maybe not so surprising…). Regardless, I demand that I work harder myself so I can try and keep up 🙂