Look at what the next door man has...

At some point in our lives, we would have felt upset/disturbed/uneasy about the progress others have made in their lives. If you haven't, then you either belong to the evolved souls or lying ;-)

Being 'Jealous' is defined as, "A feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck."

Is it a virtue or vice?

Courtesy:Google

It is not a virtue to be proud of, neither it is a vice, as long as your resentment doesn't get expressed as a harmful deed or word.

Jealousy can be experienced at various degrees and it is the intensity that does harm. All characteristics in a human being affects oneself more than it affects the other. If you are short-tempered, it affects your health more than how much your words in anger evokes disturbances in others. So, if you want to change anything about you, it should be for yourself rather than for claiming the tag of 'I did it for them'.

The mild disturbance that one experiences on hearing the progress made by an acquaintance cannot be labeled as Jealousy, yet they need attention so that the complex isn't given more impetus and groomed. Most times the disturbance occurs not because others have progressed but at the fact that we haven't achieved as much as we wanted to!! The ability to understand this, would put things in better perspective.

On one hand, a little amount of comparison does keep you motivated to achieve more, but the perception really matters. A small change in the way you compare yourself could lead to complex of inferiority. Hence, if you believe comparison helps you stay motivated; use it till it motivates, the moment it brings in disturbances, you should shun it. If i had to compare myself for motivation, it would always be with myself - to better my previous performance. I believe in absolute scale of measurement over relative.

Now, to the not motivating comparisons that are made and the disturbances it creates in the mind. Well, when does one really feel disturbed?

One's belief that

• Ones own achievement has been lesser in comparison to another
• Two are equals (Same educational background, Same Industry Etc)
• One possess greater potential than the other, yet hasn't been successful due to Luck

What we fail to realize is

• No two individuals are the same & our journeys are different.

Our goals in life may be completely different, yet we would be looking at someone and wonder why we weren't in their place! It's a natural human tendency, many  would say. Is it really, is my question!

One who is able to scrutinize why they feel the disturbance or unease, will surely be able to surpass the discomfort for the current instance. One who is strong about his life's vision would never be bothered by the fruitful journey others have. A strong, unwavering purpose in life will make you belong to the group of evolved souls!

I have always believed that every soul on physical earth comes with a definite purpose masked from our own consciousness and have always wondered what would be the purpose of a soul trapped in animals. My recent trysts with animals had an eureka moment when realized each animal has a distinct quality/character that it tries to surpass. You can read my experiences on a horse trail here.

It was the first time i was ever so close to Horse - emotionally! I have seen horses as a child and may be taken a ride too but this one was different. I learnt that horses are very jealous of other horses. On hearing this and observing their nature during the trail, i got the answer to my question; maybe the soul of the animals are trying to harness one good virtue - like the horse being trapped as a jealous animal, its lesson would be to free itself from 'Jealousy'.  Similarly, a Proud peacock takes its form to evolve above the sense of being 'Proud'.

May be, if we are suffering from jealousy syndrome, our next birth would be as a horse ;-) who knows, it is better to better ourselves now when we have some conscious thinking capability!