🕯️ IFS and Envy

Envy is often judged as ugly, but in IFS it’s longing wearing armor. It’s a protector pointing toward what the system believes it can’t have.

• A comparing part may measure worth against others to avoid feeling small.

• A resentful part may criticize what it secretly admires.

• An ashamed part may hide envy entirely, fearing it proves unworthiness.

IFS doesn’t shame these reactions. It asks:

• “What does this part wish we could have?”

• “What pain does it protect us from feeling?”

Often, envy guards exiles carrying deprivation — the memory of wanting and not receiving. When Self meets them with warmth, envy transforms into information: this is what I desire, this is what I need.

Through IFS, envy becomes a compass, not a curse. It leads you back to the life force beneath comparison — the simple, sacred wish to be fully alive.