Why Jealousy is Bad for Your Health
As a fitness trainer, I had many clients who had problems with insomnia, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual dysfunction, high blood pressure, weakened immune systems, being overweight or underweight, being unproductive at work, and simply having a very chaotic lifestyle.
After talking to them and figuring out the underlying reason as to why they had all these issues, it became apparent that extreme jealousy was usually the root of the problem.
Jealousy often causes people to have a low self esteem and blame the world for their own shortcomings. Instead of the looking in the mirror and seeing the problem, they point fingers at others. They act negatively toward people who are successful in their fields. These individuals even demonstrate jealousy towards people who are trying to help them. In my experience, in about a quarter of the cases, jealousy is the cause of living an unhealthy and chaotic lifestyle. This manifests itself as these individuals try to do too much at once.
The way I dealt with this problem was first putting them on an exercise program, getting them to practice healthy nutrition, and sitting them down in a session where we solely discussed positive attitude, self-esteem, and facing problems with accountability. In less than 3 months, the results were significant. Within 6 months, the jealousy issues were almost eliminated. At the end of a year, the person who had started out as a jealous individual became healthier physically and saw improvements in sleep and a more positive outlook on the world.
Instead of being jealous of other accomplished individuals, they would recognize their success and learn from them. Self-esteem would rise and the individual became task-oriented. Rather than competing with the whole world, they competed solely with themselves. Rather than jumping from job to job, they would focus on the important issues in life and at work. Their personal, professional and romantic relationships all improved.
I also made them realize that they need to wake up everyday, look in the mirror, and love what they see – that they are winners, and that they will accomplish their goals; that they cannot control the world, but they can be an asset.
The way I tested them was to brag in their faces of my own personal successes and those of others and note how their facial expressions changed. At this time I knew that if I bragged and they remained calm, that they had really changed their previous destructive patterns. World boxing champion Muhammad Ali used to use bragging techniques to get into his opponents’ heads and ultimately defeat them through their jealousy.
Though these jealous individuals always had hardworking tendencies, it was a matter of channeling this work into positivity rather than destructive emotions. They needed to understand that in order to be positive, first you must love yourself. Barstool Magazine
Everyone gets urges of jealousy at times, including mild jealousy or envy, but there are ways to turn it into positivity and a healthy desire to compete. My recommendation to have a healthy and organized life is to have positive competition without it becoming detrimental to your emotions, career or relationships.
