Jealousy is human nature. Of course I've been jealous in my life; "she's skinnier, she's prettier, she's been offered a better job". "That girl is touching my man, that girl is the cutest preggers ever, that girl is so lucky she doesn't have to worry about money".
However, there is a true difference between seeing these things, feeling these feelings and keeping them to ourselves vs. expressing these feelings publicly and vaguely, in a rude and mean manner, or straight up looking the person in the eye and telling them.
Why can't we just be happy for other people? Why do some people feel the need to one-up everyone else and ruin things for them? The more that I sat down and thought about it, I've experienced and been a witness to so many instances where jealousy has ruined relationships and I just don't understand why. I know we are all different people and I'm not saying that my way is the right way, but I seriously just don't understand why other people care SO much about other people's lives and what they're doing with theirs.
Now don't get me wrong, I know that maturity plays a large role in the jealousy game. Not only in age but in life experience. Traumatic experiences, becoming a parent, life changing events, going away to college, etc are all things that can make a person grow up a lot faster than their biological age would reflect. And unfortunately, some people never grow up. I see people from high school and college who are still mean, still condescending, and still bringing others down for nothing more than their own enjoyment.
I honestly don't even know where I'm going with this but I've been thinking about it for days and replaying my personal experiences through my head. When it all comes down to it, we need to be happy with ourselves and worry about our own lives. We should be happy for our friends when good things happen to them. We should be there for our friends when bad things occur. But one thing we should NOT do is make someone feel bad for something that does/doesn't happen to them.
For example, I see this ALL the time in the military community; someone's husband gets promoted and someone's doesn't. This has nothing to do with the wives; it is the soldier getting promoted and the soldier who worked hard for their new title at work. Why the wives feel that they are entitled to some newfound respect is beyond me. Just because your husband is a higher pay grade than my husband, doesn't mean you need to go out of your way to let me know that. I'm quite aware of the patch on his uniform, thank you. And promotion is a tricky thing; my husband came in with a college degree but chose to enlist for personal reasons. Just because your husband worked his way up from an E-1 or came in straight as an officer, doesn't make him any better than my husband who is just as hardworking and equally qualified to be promoted as well.
This example can be applied to so many different situations in life and we all need to stop and remember that. Things happen for a reason and you may not know the story behind it. I have met so many people who go out of their way to bring others down and rub their success, fortune, or good happenings in someone else's face and it's just not right. Of course we should scream from the rooftops when we have good news and want to share it, but there is a way to tactfully do it without purposely making others feel bad in the process.
I keep replaying Taylor Swifts "Mean" in my head and just thinking of all the times I've felt that "mean" people have come and gone from my life. In the end, we are stronger and better for putting up with their BS. We need to continue our lives being the people we want to be, sharing the goodness of our hearts and inspiring people to spread love, not hate.
Today's post is inspired by no one other than Taylor Swift ;)
