Quiet Confessions, Episode 16: Jealousy, Joy, and Grief

In this week’s Quiet Confessions, Chelsea opens up about something raw and complicated: feeling angry at their body. From the exhaustion of living with chronic illness to the jealousy and worry stirred by the wave of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, Chelsea shares the messy reality of holding multiple emotions at once — envy, joy, grief, and genuine happiness for others.

This episode is an honest look at body image, disability, comparison, and mental health. It’s a reminder that you’re not broken if you feel more than one thing at a time — you’re human.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Living in a disabled body is exhausting. 
  • Everyday tasks can cause shutdowns and flares, making even simple activities overwhelming.
• GLP-1 medications raise complex feelings. 
  • Seeing friends thrive stirs jealousy, joy, worry, and grief simultaneously.
• Comparison is human. 
  • It’s natural to compare our lives and bodies to others, but it can impact mental health deeply.
• Mixed emotions are valid. 
  • You can feel happy for others while also grieving what you don’t have.
• The body remembers loss. 
  • Chronic illness changes not just physical health but identity and self-image.
• Self-compassion matters. 
  • Feeling angry at your body doesn’t make you broken — it makes you human. 

🎧 Soundbites

• “I’m angry at my body — not just frustrated, really, really angry.”
  
  
• “Seeing friends thrive on GLP-1 meds stirs jealousy and joy at the same time.”
  
  
• “It’s hard not to compare when my life feels stripped of control.”
  
  
• “We don’t talk enough about the mix of jealousy and celebration.”
  
  
• “You’re not broken if you feel more than one thing at once — you’re human.”

Transcript

Chelsea Myers (00:38)
Hey, you are back with another quiet confession. And today I'm going to confess something that feels messy. So bear with me. I feel like I say this a lot lately, but I am angry at my body. Not just frustrated, like really, really angry. I'm angry at how it looks, how it feels.

how hard it is to function and maneuver compared to the way that I used to be able to. I know I'm not supposed to say that part out loud, right? But here we are. And I'm not afraid.

Living in this body is so much harder than it used to be. Moving, parenting, keeping up with everyday tasks, just anything. It takes so much effort and that takes a toll on my mental health. I feel limited and left behind and very disconnected from...

who I thought I'd be at this point in my life. I'm 36 years old and simple tasks like grocery shopping or going to events at my daughter's school require so much planning and more often than not I just avoid them. Just for example, taking my kids to pick out new shoes and a back to school outfit sent me into

total system shutdown and a flare that lasted well into the next day. It is exhausting and infuriating. And then there's this thing that I'm going to approach very gently because frankly I may get some hate for my feelings on it, but I'm gonna go there because this is how I feel. It's

this wave of GLP-1 medications. I think Ozempic, WeGoVee, Monjaro, think is one of them. I'm not sure. I don't know, but they're everywhere I look. They're in ads on streaming services and Facebook and Instagram and

And they're in real life people that I care about. I'm seeing friends and family losing incredible amounts of weight. They're reclaiming their energy and their mobility and their confidence. And just like so often, I'm feeling several things at once. My knee jerk.

is typically jealousy. And that's hard to admit, but it is what it is. It's jealousy because I want that too. And that feels really yucky.

I do genuinely feel happy also for friends and family members because they are getting control over their lives and health in a way that they may not have had before. And I know what it feels like to not have that control and I don't want that for anyone. So I do genuinely feel happy. And I also feel worried.

because, and this is just how my brain operates, but like, I like to understand everything about whatever it is I'm doing in life, whether it's a new medication, whether it's a new experience, I just, I need to learn as much as I can. And I'm worried because we really don't know the long-term side effects of these medications. And I, I don't want the people that I love to be harmed by something that

feels kind of like a miracle right now. don't know. And honestly, I'm not even sure if it's an option for me anyway, given my condition. ⁓ But if it is, I don't know that I'd utilize it. I don't know. I'm stuck in the wanting what they have, but also being afraid of

what it could cost and it really messes with my head.

It's super hard not to compare. We all compare ourselves to someone or something else. It's really hard not to look at their lives being given back or starting fresh when mine feels like it's being stripped down and taken out of my control completely. I am happy for my friends and family. Truly, I am. But at the same time,

I'm grieving. I want to celebrate with them. And I do in my own way. But I also hurt because I don't have that option to have control over my body right now. It's complicated. Because we don't really talk about this part, do we? The mix of jealousy and joy.

I know, it's real though, and it impacts my mental health more than I like to admit some days.

So yeah, that's where I'm at. I'm angry at my body. I'm overwhelmed and feeling all different kinds of things about this whole GLP-1 moment. And I'm trying to hold space for all of it. All the feels. So if you're in that space too, you are not broken. I am not broken.

We are human. It's all okay. Thanks for sitting with me. I hope you find some glimmers today. I will be looking for some and I promise to try and have some happier things to confess next week. But until then, do something nice for yourself.