La Bella Vita: I See Your Jealousy

Jealousy is such an ugly ugly emotion. I wish I could say I was immune to feeling it, but alas, I am but a mere mortal made up of blood and pixels. When I do feel that way, (which thankfully as I get older is less and less) I try to resolve that feeling within myself. Nothing to me is worse than projecting my feelings onto someone else. That being said I have also been on the other side of the proverbial coin. When someone is jealous of me or what I have or what I have worked so hard to achieve. I honestly get pissed off when people project their own feelings and emotions on to me. That being said, I realize some are not as self aware as others, I try to be, I do not always succeed. I too can be the cattiest cat in the cathouse. It is not something I am overly proud of but it is a part of who I am. When I find myself in situations in which the ugly green monsters rears it's ugly head, I try to step back and ask myself "What can I do to change that?"

I can not control others, I can not always control situations as much as I may like. So I ask myself "What can I do to stop feeling this way?" Be it personally in sl, personally in rl, professionally in rl, professionally in sl....My feelings are just that...MINE and guess what, how I handle them is also my responsibility. That would mean, *gasp* YOUR feelings are YOURS and how YOU handle them is YOUR responsibility -- not mine, not anyone elses. But you and yours alone. I have lost friends because of jealousy. Friendships that meant a lot to me, due to my own, most recently due to the friends...it's a horrible horrible feeling. As a friend or family member, you are expected to be happy for those you care about when they succeed or obtain something good. It is why I always say, you don't learn who your real friends are when your life stinks...it's easy to be friends with someone who's life is down....it makes you feel better about your own life. But when you succeed....when you obtain something that others want, even friends of yours, and those friends are genuinely happy for you....that's a true friend. I have found that I have lost more friends or more relationships get strained for me when I am succeeding. People can't handle jealousy. They can not remove themselves from the equation (and I have been guilty of this MANY TIMES) and be honestly be truly happy not only for what their friend or family member has achieved, but to be truly grateful for what they themselves possess at this very moment.