The Green Monster: Jealousy | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

The Green Monster: Jealousy

My thoughts on this intense emotion

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The Green Monster: Jealousy

When people think of jealousy, they think that it's the emotion that destroys relationships; some people even call it a disease. Jealousy is an emotion, and the word typically refers to the thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, concern, and anxiety over an anticipated loss or status of something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness and disgust. This intense emotion is all over the place, is present in every relationship, and I don't understand why, why are we all so jealous? Now, I personally think that jealousy isn't all negative. I mean, don't get me wrong, jealousy could turn into something much more toxic, but a little jealousy doesn't hurt now and then.

Jealousy could make you learn something. The moment you start to feel jealous, it feels awful. Your hands get all sweaty and your heart burns up and you don't know if you are going to cry because you're so frustrated and upset. It's an awful feeling. But why do we let ourselves feel like this? Some say it's because they are insecure, others say people care too much. Could it be that this complicated emotion could cause damage to relationships because people are insecure or they care too much?

Jealousy is the building block of improvement. When people see others that are better than them, the little green monster takes over and makes that person want to improve. Does jealousy help us in a way? I think so. Society, now, is so competitive that we view each other as opponents, we try to be better than whoever we find a threat. This happens in relationships, not only in romantic ones but relationships between siblings, friends -- any relationship really.

Jealousy can be dangerous, though. At times, showing some jealousy is reassuring, but jealousy can also turn into obsession or even depression. In past relationships, I would get jealous and it would destroy me; it would cause me to overthink and obsess about the person I was jealous of. I would constantly think, Well, they are better than me so why should I even try? My jealousy made me unhappy with who I was, and I can't change that. I just was not as good at that specific thing. In the end I realized that I'm not going to be good at everything, I learned that people are going to be better than you at things. Does that mean there is a perk to it?

A little jealousy is healthy in a relationship since it's always good to know that someone is afraid of losing you. There are definitely pros and cons to feeling this emotion, and I would agree that there are more cons than pros, but either way you learn from it. Jealousy, in the long run, can help you realize something, or let you discover something about yourself.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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