Why Are We Jealous?

Recently when I appreciated the efforts of my daughter’s friend in front of her I could clearly see a perplexed expression on my child’s face. Instead of feeling happy that her friend was being appreciated she came up with a face which clearly reflected her negative feelings. Being a mature adult I try to avoid this feeling but most of the time I fail. I make fresh resolutions but the effort is futile. It is unavoidable. We can not stop ourself from being jealous. How can we tolerate the other person who has gone ahead of us? Why is that when we congratulate a person on his success our expression shows that we are hiding jealousy? Why we try to downgrade a person only due to sheer jealousy? Due to sheer jealousy we tend to compare ourself with others when there is no need for doing so.

At the extreme level jealousy leads to crime and violence. The increasing teenage cases of violence in our society stems from jealousy.The lovers of today kill their beloved if they find that their love has deserted them. Though it is a natural feeling the results of jealousy can be disastrous. The feeling of jealousy makes us restless. It spoils our peace of mind. It is as if we have lost everything.

How to conquer jealousy? Obviously the change has to come form within. We have to realise that the person with whom we are jealous is reaping the benefits of his past karma. It means we have to improve our present karma by doing good deeds and working a shard as possible. We have to change our thinking in such a way that we feel happy for the other person. The more we develop sincerity of heart the more we will change our self.

Becoming jealous we tend to forget our unique strengths. Generally materialistic factor leads to jealousy. If we feel our character is strong as compared to a person who may be rich but is not having peace of mind then I think there can be no ground for jealousy. I think every person has a unique strength which the other person does not possess. If we are aware of this then I think we can never be jealous. As parents we must work hard to develop the true potential of a child. If we do so then he will stop comparing himself with others. We must try to become a role model for a child.For my posts visit www.xomba.com/user/sanjay