Being genuinely happy for a friend’s win is a sign you’re grateful enough not to feel robbed.

Somebody else winning only costs you something if you believe you are both drawing from one small pot. When you are not short, their news is simply good news, and you can feel it without the sour little calculation running underneath. That calculation is the honest signal, because it shows you where you still feel behind. Its absence is what contentment actually feels like day to day.

When a friend tells you something good this week, say the enthusiastic thing first and mean it. If the sour note arrives later, look at it privately. It is usually pointing at something of yours, not theirs.