Joy Series - WHEN JEALOUSY STEALS YOUR JOY
A story is told of a young boy who was not happy with his life. His parents tried everything humanly possible to get their son to be as joyful and satisfied with his life as every other boy his age without any success. They tried buying him every good gift a boy his age would brag about but their precious son still wasn’t happy. One day his parents decided to talk to him to try and understand why he was the way he was.
“Son,” they said, “We have tried all we can to make you happy. We have done everything we can to see you enjoying your life like your brothers and sisters are. Nonetheless, we have failed. We realize that you are still not happy.” “Son, what can we do to make you happy?” To their parents’ dismay, the young man replied, “I wish I had my brother’s bike. I wish I had my sister’s pony. I wish I had such and such”, and he went on to list everything that his siblings had. Unfortunately, his parents couldn’t get him all he thought he wanted because you do not raise kids by giving them everything they want.
Jealousy has a way of stealing your joy and controlling your life. It all starts with little things such as comparing your life to someone else’s, failing to be happy for them, or finding it difficult to congratulate someone who got that promotion you have been eyeing for quite some time. The worst mistake you can make is refusing to admit your jealousy is bringing out the worst in you. Denial will make dealing with envy hard if not impossible. Before you know it, your jealousy will steal your joy and start interfering with your work, relationships, mental health, etc.
Three reasons why you must never let jealousy steal your joy.
You should never entertain jealousy and you need to begin finding ways of getting rid of the envy you already feel towards someone for the following reasons:
1. To retain your sanity.
In addition to stealing your joy, jealousy can cause you to lose touch of reality from time to time. What does that mean? It means that instead of focusing on your abilities and what you have you will concentrate on what you do not have. You start hating yourself and you begin thinking of how much of a failure you are even if that isn’t the case. Feelings of inadequacy are impossible to avoid if you are envious towards other people.
2. To save your relationships.
Jealousy has a way of tainting your relationships and ending them. One reason you do not want to continue harboring feelings of resentment or hatred is that you want to save your relationships. Jealousy towards your partner or a close friend will make the relationship you have with them sour and uninteresting to be in. Avoid losing your loved ones by dealing with envy.
3. To be able to live to the best of your abilities.
Jealousy towards other people can prevent you from realizing your potential and living to the best of your abilities. The minute you fail to improve yourself is the minute feelings of worthlessness take over your life and being irritated by someone who is doing better comes easily when you feel insignificant.
Best ways of overcoming jealousy and remaining joyful
· Do not avoid the way you feel. But give a name to how you feel.
· Confide in someone you trust and ask them to help you get over your jealousy.
· Be content with who you are and what you have.
· Keep yourself busy.
· Be productive.
· Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
· Practice positive self-talk.
· Believe in yourself.
· Have faith in your goals and your ability to achieve them.
· Celebrate and reflect on what you have already accomplished.