Suppose your best friend to success Greatness has been achieved and you feel a little jealous instead of happy. Have you ever wondered how you can manage this feeling in a constructive way? Most of us generally consider jealousy and envy as negative emotions and since we think that these emotions are a sign of weakness and dissatisfaction, we suppress them unconsciously.
Whether we like it or not, hiding jealousy can create rifts in our friendships or romantic relationships. In this article, we want to examine the positive role of jealousy in friendships and provide you with strategies to strengthen relationships using these feelings. Be sure to stay with us until the end of this article.
What are the consequences of hiding jealousy?
Before we get to the point, let’s see what the negative effects of suppressing jealousy are. Jealousy is an emotion that we all experience at some point in our lives, but many of us suppress or ignore it rather than face it. This suppression may have unpleasant consequences for our friendships and even family relationships.
Psychotherapists have long realized in their research and studies that hiding jealousy and envy can lead to unconscious behaviors such as temper tantrums, distancing, aggressive and passive behaviors, etc. These behaviors often do more damage to the relationship than the jealousy itself. But why does this happen? To better understand this issue, let’s first have a clear definition of jealousy.
Jealousy is the desire to have things that others have. In this case, we think that by having what the other person has, we will feel better about ourselves and our lives. In some cases, jealousy can also be accompanied by a sense of possessiveness (especially in romantic or intimate relationships). In this case, the person becomes obsessively sensitive to their emotional partner, friend or even family members.
As we said, jealousy is often considered as an undesirable and negative emotion. For this reason, most people prefer to hide these feelings or even deny their existence. But instead of improving our relationships with others, this creates deep gaps in communication. Therefore, instead of hiding these feelings, it is better to acknowledge and accept them.
The positive role of jealousy in relationships
Contrary to popular belief, jealousy is not always a negative and destructive emotion; Rather, if managed properly, it can become a powerful tool for strengthening relationships. This feeling provides an opportunity to take an honest and deeper look at yourself and your relationship and recognize your weaknesses and needs. Sometimes jealousy warns you that a part of your relationship or life needs more focus and attention.
For example, if you’re jealous of your friends’ career or academic success, that feeling could be a sign that you need to do more for your goals. In this case, envy will lead you to personal growth. Plus, when you share your feelings with your partner, you create an opportunity for an honest conversation.
This conversation makes both parties understand each other better and have a stronger emotional bond. In this way, the jealousy that may have separated you and your loved ones becomes a factor for intimacy and closeness. So instead of running away from jealousy, see it as an opportunity for relationship improvement and personal growth. Consciously managing this feeling will both improve your relationships with others and help you get to know yourself better.
How can we manage jealousy properly?
Jealousy is one of the human emotions that most of us have experienced more or less. Although many of us consciously and unconsciously deny or suppress this feeling, but as we said, consciously managing this feeling can have positive effects on our lives and relationships. Below, we have provided you with some practical solutions to deal with jealousy properly:
1. Accept jealousy!
The first step to managing jealousy is to accept it. You have to accept that this feeling is a natural part of human emotions and denying it will only make things more complicated. Instead of judging yourself, try to consider jealousy as an opportunity to better understand your feelings.
2. Talk about your feelings with others
One of the most effective ways to reduce the stress of jealousy is to talk about your feelings and express them honestly without blaming or blaming others. For example, if one of your close friends has recently achieved a great success and this issue arouses your jealousy, you can tell him: “When I found out that you succeeded in the card, I got a strange feeling. Maybe this feeling was jealousy, but I am happy from the bottom of my heart that you achieved this success. This conversation will strengthen your relationship with your friends and prevent misunderstandings.
3. Take time for your personal growth and development
Sometimes, the root cause of jealousy is comparing yourself to others. Instead of focusing on what others have, focus on your goals, abilities, and the path you can take to improve yourself. In this way, you can turn jealousy into an incentive to grow and strive for more.
4. Be clear about your expectations
Sometimes the cause of jealousy is the failure to meet expectations in a relationship. If you think that your friend does not value your success or has distanced himself from you, be sure to share this with him. This clarification clears up misunderstandings and makes your relationship stronger.
5. Practice empathy
In your interactions with other people, be sure to pay attention to the fact that your opposite party is also a human being with his own challenges and weaknesses. Such a view can greatly reduce jealousy. Sometimes, the success of others is the result of efforts and struggling with problems that you are not aware of. In such situations, empathy helps you to be proud of the other person instead of being jealous.
Do not run away from jealousy!
Although jealousy seems an unpleasant emotion at first glance, it can become an opportunity to grow and strengthen our relationships. Therefore, instead of running away from it or denying it, you can also turn it into a tool for self-discovery and improving relationships. In this article, we talked with you about jealousy and told you how you can manage this feeling properly and turn it into an opportunity for personal growth and development. What experience do you have in this field? How do you think we can manage jealousy?
A step towards mastering your communication skills
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