You have often wondered: why does this person envy me so much? The answer is simple: they see your talents and virtues, but they are too lazy to make the effort to achieve what you have. They grew up with unmet emotional needs and a lack of attention, hiding their weaknesses, feeling inferior, and projecting onto others a reality they themselves cannot handle.
When people like this appear frequently in your life, I know you feel defeated and drained, but remember that they are out there seeing all your talents, even those that come so naturally to you that you have not recognized them as talents yourself. These are admirers who believe you are more than they are, who would rather live your life than their own, who envy you for what you are, have, or do, even if you think it is not much; who try to be like you and cannot. The ones who adore you in silence and express it through their frustrations.
These professional enviers know you are special, that you have something they do not. But do not let them keep you awake at night. They may not be mediocre by birth, but they are by choice: that was their decision. They have declared themselves inferior and devote themselves to counting your talents instead of their own.
Keep showing them that you can be better every day: better than you were before and better than they think you are. That is the best reward you can give yourself, the best gift you can give them.
Trust your abilities as much as your admirers do. You are special, and those who envy you know it.
“Envy is the tribute mediocrity pays to talent.”
Jackson Brown