July 28, 2022

Green Eye Monster

Notes From Dad

March is a beautiful month. Winter is almost over, we celebrate Spring, toast to St. Patty’s Day and look forward to all that green. However, another green that we see too much of is jealousy. This emotion can have different shades of feelings. It can give you anger, uncertainty and insecurity. What happens is when someone feels threatened by a third party, the relationship becomes tense and strained. Briefly let’s look at some of the causes and how to deal with this green- eye monster.

Jealousy can be motivated by possessiveness, low self-esteem, inadequacy and lack of trust. A person may imagine in their mind that they are being betrayed; the mind plays games filling the head with suspicion and doubt.

There are ways to deal with jealousy and make your relationship work. First, work on your insecurities. Make a list of your strong and weak points and focus on the ones that will build confidence and self-esteem.

Second, work on trust issues. Trust is a positive emotion and the best way to deal with jealousy-trust issues is to be honest with each other and have close communication that builds a bond and lessens the chance of insecurities.

Third, learn from your mistakes. We all get jealous but we can grow from this emotion. Identify what you are jealous about and develop a plan to conquer this feeling.

Finally, remember don’t confuse jealousy with envy. Envy is about two people wanting what you have; whereas jealousy usually involves three people that can disrupt a relationship.

So don’t let this feeling control you; take a deep breath, focus on the positive and be self-confident!