Stop running from your true feelings! If you sigh and foam at the mouth when you see your friend getting the attention that you crave, your problem is obvious. You’ve fallen victim to the spirit of jealousy. Since this spirit often finds a way into the hearts of men and women, you can rest assured that you’re not alone. More importantly, you’re not out of luck. It comes down to your ability to accept your reality. Sometimes, in life, what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander, and this definitely applies to you and your friend. Now, don’t drown in your emotions! Just accept the fact that your journey won’t be filled with similar experiences and successes.
Why do you feel this way about your friend? Well, here’s a quote from Robert A. Heinlein: “A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” Neurotic people are emotionally unstable or chronically anxious, and insecurity breeds a heightened sense of doubt and unworthiness. Ergo, you might envy him or her because, deep down, you’re truly unhappy with yourself. The good news is that jealous thoughts can’t dominate your mind if you have an adequate amount of self-value. The sooner you learn to love your unique self, the better.
Being jealous is a major hindrance to genuine happiness within a friendship, and this is why:
1. It ruins the bond and love.
If you allow those bitter feelings to persist, it’s only a matter of time before they cloud your judgment. This simply means you won’t view your pal in the same light. With each passing day, you’ll become more agitated and distant, and you’ll gradually forget how to be a good friend. Has this already happened? The spirit of jealousy is always on the prowl, seeking to destroy the bond of true friends.
2. It stirs up a whirlpool of problems.
When you’re jealous, you’re more likely to cause unnecessary problems because you’ll seethe for any reason. Even when you engage in playful banter with your buddy, you’ll probably get offended easily. Jealousy has the power to make you see the negative in every situation. Slowly but surely, your attitude will become too toxic for others to tolerate, so don’t be shocked if your text messages go unanswered. This is simply a consequence of being jealous. No one wants to spend time with a bitter person who’s snippy and combative.
3. It sends you in a downward spiral.
Once you allow jealousy to gain a foothold in your life, hang on! You’re going on the wildest ride whether you want to or not. This spirit is hard to rein in because it randomly activates all your emotions. For instance, after watching your friend score the winning goal, you’ll jump up and down with everyone else, but you’re simply going through the motions to hide how you truly feel. Your joy will quickly turn into sheer hate. Thankfully, you don’t have to go out of your way to stop being jealous because the solution involves looking within.
How to Overcome Jealousy
First and foremost, you have to understand that one-size-fits-all solutions don’t work when you’re dealing with emotions. To get rid of your jealous ways, the key is to hit the reset button, and we’re talking about the one that controls how you feel. This will be easy to do if you stop looking for answers in our flawed society. According to the rest of the world, the focus belongs on wealth, material possessions and physical appearances. That’s why you may think you’re inferior to your friend who has natural beauty, an extravagant lifestyle and many admirers. Society will leave anyone with a warped outlook on things, especially success. What you need is some time alone. A little introspection can go a long way toward helping you to realize your true potential. After all, you’re awesome in your own way. Once you gain a better understanding of who you are and what you can do, you’ll finally be able to look at your friend without being green with envy.
When you start to feel like your buddy is overshadowing you, don’t rant and rave inside your head if your goal is to overcome jealousy for good. Try working on yourself instead. There’s always room for improvement. If you clear your mind of the negativity, you just might come to this realization: You’re wasting your precious time and energy by being jealous of your best friend.
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