Taming jealousy
Everyone has insecurities in life. Some have insecurities with how they look, their financial stability, how they fit in social situations or even their inherent worth as a person. Even influencers and celebrities have their waterloo. Nobody is perfect and there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself. I don’t believe you should ever compare yourself to others because it will make you vain and bitter about the things you lack in life. I believe the only person you should ever compare yourself with is the previous versions of yourself. Comparison is truly the thief of joy. I personally am not a very jealous person. I used to be jealous when I was younger, but as I matured, I realized even the most seemingly perfect individuals, with amazing lives have flaws when I interacted with influencers and celebrities. Everyone is just human at the end of the day. We all have insecurities and flaws and are working towards being the best version of ourselves.
I’ve also began to realize that not everyone thinks like me. In fact, the world is saturated with jealous and hateful people. Sadly, many of them were people I considered friends. Friends see the inner workings of your life. They see the joy you have when a boy pays attention to you, and not them. They see the intimate details of your life, like your happy family life or your success in work. They see how people admire your intelligence or attractiveness. Many times, they don’t think you deserve the success or attention. From my experience, I realized friends will really be the ones who will drag you down with “crab mentality”. Recognizing the green eyed monster in peers is very new to me because I honestly tamed my jealousy when I was younger. I also like seeing my friends win as I’ve matured and I like being inspired by successful people. The initial reaction i’ve come to notice, especially with toxic and fake friends is “how do I take away or steal from his/her happiness?” This is of course done by creating issues or drama, backstabbing, and gossip in order to drag you down to their level.
During my yoga teacher training, we were taught during the philosophy of yoga, the 5 Yimas: Ahimsa (non-harming or non-violence in thought, word and deed. Satya (truthfulness). Asteya (non-stealing). Brahmacharya (celibacy or ‘right use of energy’ Aparigraha (non-greed or non-hoarding). It was mentioned in the lecture how there is actually a form of stealing wherein you steal other people’s happiness and this goes against the principle of Asteya.
When you are jealous and wish ill on others, even if you pass this off as a joke that they’re “too sensitive”, this will bring negative karma in your life. The same way when you gossip and backstab others, it is also causing harm to others and is violent or aggressive behavior. It is very important to keep your intentions pure. To think pure thoughts, because they become your words. To deliberately speak kind words because they become your actions. To do kind deeds because this will become your character. If you are constantly thinking angry, hateful of jealous thoughts, this will become who you are. This will be your vibration and it will bleed unto others. The same way, if you are kind, loving and positive as a person, this will become who you are and these will be the kind of people you attract as well.
Emotions are contagious especially in a group setting. It’s much easier to get dragged into a low vibration like that of jealousy, hate, and anger versus working towards positive emotions like happiness, optimism and joy. There are also those who spread anger, fear and hate and keep creating new enemies to stay revelant and feel important. Toxic celebrities like Kanye and Kim Kardashian for example constantly create drama and conflict to claw their way to the top. On the other hand there are also those who have clinical depression or bipolar disorder who inspire and help others, like Selena Gomez with her music and films. They can create masterpieces like Van Gogh did the starry night. They can compose legendary music like Kurt Cobain. It is a matter of perspective and the ability to be self aware and resilience that will determine your success.
Ironically, both these celebrities struggle with mental health conditions. This just goes to show that even if you have a mental health condition like clinical depression or are suffering from a major loss, I believe you need to take accountability for your actions. You need to apologize and be humble enough to accept when you hurt others or when you are wrong. The ability to be humble enough to admit you are wrong or you need help with regulating your emotions is something I highly respect. An inability to see one’s own flaws is dangerous, and can cause you to repeatedly hurt others or spiral into a downward spiral of anger, hate and jealousy.
That being said, you can choose to transform you negative emotions into something beautiful and help others or you can allow it to swallow you whole. You are the captain of your fate and the master of your ship. The first step in manifesting your dream life or destiny is allowing yourself to not be consumed by emotions and to be mindful of your own thoughts and actions. Being mindful of your own jealous tendencies and what actions you do when you are envious is crucial. Every thought you think becomes words and this continues to create a ripple effect into to the Universe affecting all those whose path your cross.
“Comparison is the thief of joy” - Theodore Roosevelt