Jealousy

This topic was a considerably difficult one to think about. First of all, what is jealousy? Is it an emotion? Or a state of being? Personally, I think it's both, because for one thing, you feel jealousy, but you can also be jealous in the sense of pride. Pride is one of those things that incorporates many emotions into itself. Jealousy, by definition, is basically a resentment towards a rival, enjoying success or advantage over another, and having resentment towards another's success or advantage. Why is jealousy so infectious? Why is it that when you see someone that has achieved a state of higher talent than you, inside, you resent their success and talent. There are those of us that have been able to get by that by being thankful for what we have. But because of pride and greed, we want to be more talented or more benefited than that certain person. So why is jealousy so hard to let go of if it's so closely tied in with pride? Well, since pride is the human disease, it is very closely tied in with our character and our personality. We unconsciously have the need to receive approval from those we respect. So when we see that someone else has something better than us or does something better than us, we feel jealousy, because they are better than us. Jealousy is a horrible thing. It forces us to compare ourselves against those around us, and by doing so, we begin to dislike those that are better than ourselves, and look down upon those that are less so than we are. But when we let go of this jealousy, we force ourselves to realize that we shouldn't be something we're not just because someone else is better at something than we are. We need to realize the fact that we can't do everything perfectly, nor are the odds very high of us becoming the very best at something. Very few human beings have achieved the status as being "the best". Usain Bolt, for example, is the fastest man on Earth according to his speed being compared to other peoples'. So does this mean that competition is a sport of jealousy? Yes and no. Yes because it makes us dislike those we are competing against because we are the "enemy" so to speak. And no because this sort of competition is what gets us to push ourselves to the limit, to become better than we already are. So can jealousy be a good thing? Perhaps. Perhaps if somebody was able to completely let go of their pride and enmity, they could exercise their jealousy for the sole purpose of making themselves better, rather than to try and become better than the next guy. But it is highly unlikely that anyone would be able to let go of their pride completely soon enough to actually use it without pride. As you all know the General Authorities are the best example of those having no jealousy, but they have no real desire to become the best at anything. They have service in mind at all times, and they have the benefits and well being of their families in mind. Not becoming the best. So is this what we should do? Focus ourselves on others in order to lose our jealousy? Perhaps, it is the only way.