Jealousy

I am getting ready to go to Chicago and my brain is just going a mile a mintute thinking about what I have to do. In between all those thoughts are thoughts of school, more specifically psychology. I was just thinking about jealousy and I had to write down my thoughts.

First I was asking myself "Is jealousy a motivator?" I mean is there any good to it? Where does it play in psychology, the various theories and schools of thought. I have not really come across much about it in school. I hope it will be addressed in Ab.Psych but to be jealous is not really that abnormal, is it?

I am thinking of a specific person when I write this. Those of you who know me (if anybody ever reads my blogs, haha) well will know who I am thinking of. OK so, jealousy is a normal emotion. The bible says it is wrong so I think that is why so many people have trouble with it when they feel it. Jealousy is not wrong, in my opinion. It is wrong to get all bent out of shape over it though. Whenever I feel jealous, I just think of all my blessings, all my goals (do I really want what the other person has - reason it out), and all that I can acheive and then put those feelings away. It usually does go away. Other people do not deal with jealousy that well. Some people let it bend them out of shape and they get angry and then they take it out on the people they love or the person they are jealous of. Sometimes they get competitive and may even chase after goals/ideas/things they really did not want in the first place. It changes them.They end up looking like an idiot though. It is because they cannot accept the fact that they are jealous, cannot face that emotion, do not accept the fact that it is a normal thing to feel. Just deal with it! They need to take some time to analyze their emotions honestly, and then maybe they won't end hurting people, looking like a fool, or making foolish choices - i.e. letting the jealousy rule them.

I think at times jealousy can actually be good. It may make a person stop and take stock of what they really want. It may spur them towards a goal. Sometimes the competiveness can be healthy - a person may actually step up their game to acheive the object of their jealousy. As long as the jealous person knows themself - what they are feeling and why they want what they want. As long as they do not let jealousy bend them out of shape. What do you think? Does this make sense?

I was thinking about this also because I think jealousy is out of control with a lot of people in America. "Have to keep up with the Jones" I think that mentality has a lot to do with the housing crisis and credit crunch we have going on now.

I had another thought. People often cannot face up to feeling jealous because it means that the other person is better than them. The jealous person is less than or has less then the object of their jealousy. That hurts. It is hard to face for some people. It also gives the object of jealousy power and that is bad. If anybody reads this please let me know what you think.