A woman who is jealous of her younger colleague – who is now dating her former love interest. The woman, in her late 30s, says her co-worker has a great social life and is "really pretty".

However, she can't even be mad at the woman in her 20s as she "does really like her".

"I'm mentoring a girl in her twenties at work, and I can't stop ruminating about how jealous I am of her," she admitted on Mumsnet. "She's at the age where she's out every weekend, amazing social life. She's really pretty, dresses well and is SMART. She's good at her job and has so much potential. She's friendly to everyone, and I do really like her."

The woman admitted her own life isn't quite as exciting anymore, leaving her feeling bitter because she "misses it so much". "In addition, she's started seeing a guy at work... who had previously expressed interest [in me]," she continued.

"It seemed pretty innocent at first and he was friendly and a bit flirty with me and then sent me some extremely sexual messages about the fantasies he'd had about us. I got cold feet because it felt inappropriate (it's a colleague and I'm older) and the chat went dry. But now she's seeing him, I can't get him out of my head.

"Classic want what you can't have I guess. She doesn't know about any of the flirtations between us before as far as I'm aware."

The woman confessed she was finding it hard to "keep up" with the act of being fine at work and sought advice online. One woman encouraged her, saying: "Please don't take this out on your younger colleague (it doesn't sound like you would). When I was younger I had several older colleagues treat me like s**t and try to stop me progressing and I'm sure it was from jealousy."

"It was truly terrible and they had no idea the horrible circumstances that had led me to be in those low-paid jobs. Instead, use it as a catalyst to help you see what you're missing and go find more of it. It's good you've recognised it. That shows you are self-aware! I really sympathise though. It can be tough seeing others who have what you want."

Another chimed in: "You need to focus on addressing the shortfalls in your own life, rather than on your envy of your colleague. Is there anything stopping you from having a busy social life and dressing well? Making the best of what you have if you don't feel you're as pretty as your colleague? Take some steps, however small, to improve these parts of your life."