The Green Eyed Monster

Envy. Jealousy. The green-eyed monster gets a bad rap. It makes us think of Fatal Attraction and relationships gone bad. We imagine cat fights and mean girls in high school.

What if envy isn’t all boiled-bunny bad? The mean girls and bad relationships and insecurities are all the dark side. Envy doesn’t have to mean taking something from someone else. There is a lighter side we don’t think about very often. Envy shows you the things you want. It’s the road map that points the way to the places you want to go. Jealousy creates the discomfort you need to make changes.

Jealousy has provided me with motivation at times. When I was in college, my roommate mentioned that she didn’t get Bs. She said she didn’t like them. I oozed jealousy. I was a little mad at her.  I wanted to stop getting Bs. I didn’t like them either. Then I realized I could just decide to stop getting Bs. I hadn’t realized before how much I cared about my grades.

Recently, a colleague said something about her body of work. I suddenly and fiercely loathed her. I wanted a body of work. I hated her for having this body of work that I didn’t have. I realized that I wanted a cohesive collection of projects I could point to as my body of work. Rather than loathe her, I got started on my own projects. Because I don’t want to loathe my colleagues every time they do cool stuff (and she could beat me up).

The key to turning around jealous reactions is to do something with those feelings. You don’t want to just stay jealous. Take those feeling as a signpost pointing the way to the things you really want. Then take action toward those things.*

Tell me in the comments about your jealousy. What is it showing you?

This post was inspired by a recent oneblueberry story prompt. Intrigued? Sign up here and join me.

*If you want more info on taking action toward your goals click here.