SOME people say, too much jealousy can ruin a relationship, friendship, and everything about yourself.
According to Wikipedia, jealousy is an emotion, and the word typically refers to the thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, concern, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of status or something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a human connection.
Jealousy is an ugly emotion. No wonder some people go to such lengths to ignore or deny it. Yet it’s nearly impossible to dodge because envy is an inevitable consequence of the comparisons we seem programmed to make.
Let’s take this for example - if when we put a group of strangers in a room, they start to assess each other immediately and most people are automatically comparing up the crowd - who’s more beautiful, who’s tougher, and who’s brighter.
We are all unique, and those uniqueness matter but contrary to a popular belief that feeling jealous isn’t always bad thing.
Have you ever seen the bright side of jealousy? Well, as it turns out, the answer is yes. No matter how bad an emotion is perceived as, it does have its merits as well. So here it is.
Bright Side of Jealousy
First, jealousy can be a driving force to succeed instead of sulking at another person’s success, you can work hard to achieve the same.
There are lots of instances when idiots turn into geeks and losers turn into heroes just because instead of lying in a corner whining about themselves, they take it as a challenge to do better than the other person.
So the next time you are jealous of someone, instead of immersing yourself in self-pity, look at what can improve your efforts and do better so that in the future, you are the cause of her envy and not the other way round.
Jealousy can show you what it is that you actually strive for to achieve the same.
Second, it’s a window into your soul because jealousy can speak volumes about your character. All you need to do is ask yourself some questions whenever you find yourself pining for something the other person has and start getting jealous for the same.
Ask yourself why you are jealous. Is it just because you hate her guts and can’t see her doing well or is it because you really yearn for what she has got? How often do you feel jealous? While an occasional bout of jealousy is completely natural and even important as you will soon find out, but as you know too much of everything is bad, the same applies to jealousy as well.
Ask yourself why is it that it’s me feeling jealous about her and not the other way round? Is it because she is doing something better or is it because she is plain lucky?
Thus, jealousy followed by a certain amount of soul-searching can be an eye-opening experience as it teaches you more about yourself. It throws light upon your hidden expectations, your wants and desires.
Lastly, it can strengthen relationships though this statement may seem impossible, but trust us, it is true. Contrary to our belief that jealousy can be a nail in the coffin for any relationship, the truth is completely the opposite. Jealousy is unavoidable and, in fact, important in a relationship. (Christine Evalaroza)