Avoiding envy of others can make you feel happier. This is achieved by comparing what you have and your situation with those who are worse off than you, so that you feel you are considerably lucky compared to them.
If you compare upwards, your position, wealth, property etc against those who have more than you, you will tend to question why they have more than you and then feel unhappier, and possibly unjustly treated. You will also see this with trade disputes and strikes where groups compare the amount they are paid with some other group in society, and will often go to considerable lengths, often loosing more while on strike than they will eventually win back, in order to right the wrong they see.
In one recent talk put on by the wisest person, he suggested that the reason TV soaps are so popular is that those involved within the soaps have such a terrible time and so many problems in life and therefore the viewer feels that there are people who are far worse off than themselves and suffering far more. Where soaps have been attempted with a better life style they have been short lived. It may also be connected with why newspapers with bad news or negative reports on relationships and behavior by some people sell so well.
In some cases where people have volunteered to help with feeding runs to the homeless or in missions to get aid to people in other countries after a disaster of some type, and they have been later interviewed, they now feel far happier than they were before it happened
Envy is one of the most destructive of all emotions and should be avoided.
