The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time.

Two things run at once in jealousy, and they work against each other. There is the agitation, loud and consuming and easily mistaken for aliveness, and underneath it a flatness, since all that energy is being spent on somebody else’s life rather than your own. The person is frantic and stagnant at the same time.

The flatness is the part worth attending to. When envy of somebody flares, ask what specifically you want that they have, then put an hour into that thing rather than into thinking about them. Redirecting the energy is far more achievable than extinguishing it, and it gets you out of the dull half.