J.O.E. (Jealous Ones Envy)

Speaking with my cousin about progress and success, there'd have been an elephant in the room if we ignored it's sinful sister; envy. The sad truth is, on the journey to success, there are bound to be a few necks tired of tilting upwards to watch you rise.

"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies" The Social Network.

Cape Cardigan : Primark | Dress : Primark

"Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own" Harold Coffin.

Its natural to compare yourself to another, but the trouble arises when you covet another's property or personality, and wish it were your own. Jealousy is like a sickness, it gnaws at your minds and negatively affects your actions. The envious bone clouds judgement and reverts one to their pre-adolescent selves. You see full-grown adults spreading mindless gossip, or engaging in manipulating tactics, painting the envied in a bad light. A dear friend of mine finds it difficult sharing another's joy or celebrating another's success unless she too is in a good place. Its a fatal flaw, but not one that cannot be overcome.

 Belt : New Look | Pumps : H&M | Watch : Michael Kors

Envy bruises both parties; breeding a feeling of inadequacy, and prompts self-loathing on the one hand, while tainting the character of the friend who then falls short of expectations on the other. Those overcome with jealousy find it hard to advise reasonably. All words spewed tend to be biased, and may not always be in your best interest. My cousin testified to being fed-up with trivial spats, and harkened to the wise words of her sister and boyfriend who advised her to trim the weeds around her in order to grow fruitfully.

The fundamental fact is, you've gotta have something special and worthwhile, to breed jealousy among others. Don't let the negative energy of others dim your shine. Instead, use it as fuel to power on to the top. Its easy to succumb to their negativity and live out a self-fulfilling prophecy (fellow sociology students will be nodding here), but I urge you to rise above it. For others to bring you down, you have to always remember they're on the level below you to start with.

Onyxsta says...BLEURGH!! Jealous Ones will always envy, so differentiate who's your friend from your enemy. Xisses