Poison Ivy: Jealousy

At some point in life, everyone deals with jealousy. Whether you're the victim or you find yourself putting someone down, it effects everyone. Jealousy is unhealthy, it can eat at your self confidence and your relationships with other people. It's important to recognize jealousy in whatever form it comes in and by recognizing it, I don't mean go looking for it. By being able to recognize it you can find it and eliminate it from poisoning you.

Victim: If you have people in your life you are close to that seem eager to point out negative things about you, the reason might be jealousy. However, there is a huge difference between being eagerly negative and giving constructive criticism. Negativity is meant for your harm while constructive criticism is meant to make you grow. If you really don't think the person comes from a well intentioned place, then you might want to distance yourself from them. It's hard for people to accept jeoulousy from loved ones but jealousy comes in all forms. Jealousy comes from different people in close positions in your life including best-friends, cousins, sisters and so on. Don't dismiss the possibility of someone being jealous because of the title they hold in your life. 

Perpetrator: Recognizing jealousy in yourself is probably harder than being a victim because naturally people hate to admit they feel inadequate. Here are a few tips that might help you be aware of being a jealous individual and stop poisoning other people's lives and more importantly, your own. Feeling the need to constantly criticize someone you compare yourself to, is a sign of jealousy. Looking at someone and seeing good attributes and being inspired by someone is different from having negative feelings about them. Jealous people get joy from being hurtful to others. Aim to be inspired and appreciate good qualities in people and yourself. Put your energy into making yourself better. 

Jealousy is a poison in anyone's life. I've dealt with it on very unhealthy levels and so have people I know. You can't have healthy relationships with people if jealousy is involved and it will keep you from growing. Removing negativity is important so you can be able to grow through life.