There is a good balance when it comes to sharing your strengths and joys? If you overshare, you become a burdensome braggart, but if you undershare, people don't have the chance to celebrate life's strengths and happiness with you. There's a balance.
Long ago, as a child in school, I usually got good grades. I got good grades because for the most part school came easy to me and I behaved as expected. I was proud of my good grades, but sad that I was told to "hide my report card" so I didn't make others with less good grades upset. This was a somewhat painful experience because I had to essentially mask myself to make someone else feel good.
As we know, hiding a success for ourselves doesn't make others feel good. In fact, I'm sure that hiding my report card only made it worse for those with poor grades as they clearly knew what was going on. Instead, a better way to handle the situation would be to talk about the reality of the situation. School was a good fit for me--I was making progress, and we could have discussed what other progress I could make while still getting good grades. As for the person(s) not getting good grades, they could have explored options to change the situation, to make school a better fit, and to support more progress. Looking back, that school setting was not a good fit for the child not excelling--his poor grades had little to do with him, but more to do with the fact that he needed a different kind of program to excel.
Sometimes, when someone has a strength that we don't have, we may want to undermine them with words or actions. I'm sure that we've all experierenced a time when we've been extremely happy about an event or accomplishment only to find another person turn on us because they don't share our happiness or want to acknowledge it. This can happen for all kinds of reasons. At times like these, we need to quell our pleasure and recognize that for some reason our good fortune is a trigger for them. Way back when many of my friends were buying houses, I had a hard time being happy for them because I thought I'd never have a house and I really wanted one. I felt left out, unworthy, and less than. I couldn't relate. In time, I was able to save up and buy a home with my husband. Looking back, I wish I was more patient and confident at the time when my friends bought their houses. I wished I recognized that life's accomplisments happen on different timelines and in different ways for all of us. It's rare or impossible for anyone to get everything they want when they want it, but instead life is a series of highs, lows, and plateaus--a somewhat different landscape for each of us.
When we experience a great joy, we can't let anyone take that away from us, but we can be cognizant of the sensitivity that joy may bring out in others, and we can be compassionate about that. It's okay to share your strengths and joys, but know there's a balance when it comes to doing that well. Onward.