She started her career as a journalist when she was 21. Upon discovering that there were so many people in the field who seemed to do the job much better than her and received many more accolades from her seniors, she then became envious and stopped her journalistic endeavors altogether.

She then began trying her hand at writing literary works, befriending several writers, but when some of her former compadres started gaining fame for their works, having their works translated into English and receiving international accolades, she started backing away from these people as well because they started to make her feel inferior.

She is also allergic to criticism; when people criticize her work, she gets insulted, offended and reacts defensively to the criticism instead of discerning the kernel of truth for that criticism to help herself become better at what she does.

Now, Grace feels like an underachiever; she feels she has never attained anything meaningful in life. Thankfully, she does not have to work because her wealthy parents can vouch for her prolonged unemployment.

Financial concerns aside, it is interesting to note that Grace’s envy of her colleagues’ success is what killed her career. There is a huge difference between jealousy and envy.

Jealousy is when you want what others have and that which you perceive you are lacking. Jealousy entails faith in yourself that you, too, can have what these other people have, either in terms of professional success, sexual prowess or physical attractiveness.

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