Jealousy or Inspiration?

We live in a day and age where social media is encompassing our every move. You won't find anyone in this generation that doesn't at least have a Facebook. It's just become a part of our culture. With that, though, I feel as though we have also been bombarded with the images of beautiful, rich, and successful people. Hell, there are people now referring to themselves as "Instagram Models". With that, it's really clear to see the increased jealousy in our society as a whole. Likes have become our new determinant of success. So, here's a little story:

I'm someone who's always been very self conscious; always worried about my weight, nose, smile, hair--you name it. It's quite exhausting, to say the least. But I would like to point out that I've also gotten better over time. Yes, I am still very aware of my flaws (maybe too aware), and yes maybe I do worry about others' perception of me, but, I have a good amount of self-love that is slowly increasing by the day. That in itself is a great achievement, if you ask me!

But back to the story. So, I was on instagram just blindly liking people's pictures when one of my friends posted a bikini shot of herself, and she looked banging, if I do say so myself. Mind you, she's lost roughly around 30 lbs last summer and she already has a beautiful face, so you can kinda picture how pretty that picture was. But it just seemed as though she's been getting fiercer and fiercer by the second. And then that disgusting feeling hit me -- I was jealous. Not even kind of jealous, but that intense sting of jealousy that kinda bums you out for the rest of the day. It's really not a fun feeling. This comes at a time where've I've been finally putting my weightloss goals to full effect. I've already lost 12 lbs (post to come soon!), I've been going to the gym 4x a week, eating well, hair's been on fleek, and I've just been in a generally good mood in regards to my outside appearance. But on this day specifically, I was feeling bloated, like all my work was for nothing, that I wasn't losing enough weight, and that I was just plain ugly. Like, why does she look so bomb and have everyone like/comment on her pic, and I don't feel nearly the same way? She's not even that great of a person. I really just need to starve myself for the next 3 days to feel good about my self. BLAHFUCKINBLAH. 

Just general thoughts that came through my mind. Then after sulking around for an hour or so, I realised that instead of hating on her, feeling horrible about myself, and pouting all day, I need to switch up my energy. I needed to turn that jealousy into motivation.

I will say, it's actually easier to get motivation from outside sources than it is to get from those that you know. Why, you ask? Well, it primarily goes back back to the idea of fiction characters. Lol, sounds stupid, I know. But let me explain!
When you see an Instagram model, you think "wow, she's a MODEL, obviously she's going to look like that. She probably has REAL info on how to get her body, blablabla". When it comes to people in your social circles, it's like, why are you glo-ing up before me? And that's where the jealousy factor comes in. I for one have decided to switch up those thoughts and turn them to a positive. I'm just going to take all these people around me and see them as sources of inspiration instead of a way to feel worse about myself. It's so empowering, and trust me, it's alot easier than feeling like crap about yourself and ending up hating those people around you simply because they've gotten a certain type of success that you strive for.

I just kind of think of it as this: I want my friends to be happy for me when I reach my goals instead of envy and talk trash. So why can't I reciprocate that mentality when it comes to others? I'm a huge believer in the universe, and getting back what you put out. Put out good, get good back. Simple.