It’s easy to look around and find someone who appears to have it better than you. You see your friends getting married and having babies and wonder how you ended up with the short end of the stick. You may even be experiencing this within your own family. My little sister got married about six months after my divorce. It was hard to watch her starting her own little family when mine had just fallen apart. I often found myself feeling jealous of those around me. So many appeared to have a perfect family and I was struggling to be a single mom.
Before long I noticed that this jealousy that I was feeling was affecting my relationships with those around me. I felt myself resenting them simply because they had what I did not. I consciously had to take a step back from the situation and realize that their happiness did not take away anything from me. I had the choice to be happy. Yes, their circumstances were different than mine. Perhaps they were better, perhaps they weren’t. I have no way of knowing. We often perceive other’s circumstances as brighter than our own, simply because we never see what goes on behind closed doors. They may be fighting their own invisible battles.
As a single mom you have to make a conscious effort not to envy those around you. Your situation may not be ideal, but life rarely is. Even amidst the trials we have so much to be grateful for. You have children who love you and look up to you. You are no longer living in a difficult marriage. You are in charge of your life and your happiness now. So while you could spend the rest of your life feeling jealous of your married neighbors, you may find your time far better spent being happy with what you have rather than focusing on what you don’t.