Jealousy can be a very toxic and destructive emotion to have. However, this is not something that comes out of rarity. A lot of people all over the world contend with jealousy every single day. At the very least, every single person has felt jealous at least once in their life. But the truth is that a lot of us get jealous all of the time. It doesn’t matter how blessed or privileged you might be. When you see that someone else has more than you, it can be very easy to feel as if you’ve been cheated of life’s greatest pleasures.
While it can be challenging to deal with jealousy yourself, it’s just as difficult to deal with the jealousy that is directed towards you. Sometimes, the people you interact with every day can get jealous of what you have or who you are. You might not always realize that people are jealous of you, and this ignorance can keep you from interacting optimally in your relationship.
Here are five warning signs that someone is jealous of you and what you should do about it:
1. They Give You False Compliments
False compliments are always rough because they tend to carry a touch of sarcasm and cynicism. Of course, you would always want to be on the receiving end of a compliment. But if it’s being given by someone sarcastically, how do you respond? You should just take it. At the end of the day, what they say about you says more about who they are than who you are.
2. They Belittle Your Success
Let your actions do the talking. You shouldn’t have to defend the success that you’ve amounted to in life. If someone is jealous of you and is trying to downplay your achievements, let them. After all, you have nothing to gain from trying to winning their praise anyway. So, you have nothing to lose by ignoring their criticisms as well. The only important thing is that you make yourself proud.
3. They Imitate You
A lot of the time, to try to get on your level, people who are jealous of you will try to imitate you. Now, this is only ever an issue for you if it compromises your sense of security and safety. However, it’s mostly just harmless. Allow them to try to chase after you. In this case, you will always find yourself ahead anyway.
4. They Celebrate Your Failures
What they don’t understand is that the reason that you’re successful now is because you have had to go through so many failures in your life. They don’t realize that failure is crucial to success. So, when you see other people celebrating your failure, just let them. They won’t be singing the same tune once you’re back on top again. By then, it’ll be you who has the last laugh. You know that failure isn’t what defines you. It’s how you bounce back from defeat that matters most.
5. They Talk Ill About You Behind Your Back
Of course, you’re going to find yourself being a victim of gossip when other people are jealous of you. This is because they see just how beloved and adored you are in the eyes of others. Heck, they even see it for themselves. So, to bring you down, they will try to make it seem as if you’re not as great as you seem to be. They will speak ill about you behind your back. But it’s crucial that you not let this get to you. Instead of wasting your time by entertaining these slanders, you should just focus on drowning out all of that noise with your greatness.
6. They Just Plainly Hate You
Sometimes, a person can just really like who you are and what you have so much to the point that they hate you. Yes, this makes no sense at all. And this is why the best way of dealing with someone who hates you is just to ignore them. Don’t feed into their hatred. Don’t let it affect you. It’s always best to just let these things go. After all, their hatred is only consuming them, and it does very little to affect you.
Final Thoughts
You’re just bound to have someone be jealous of you. That’s just part of the nature of people. We want what we can’t have. You can’t control how other people feel about you. But you can control how you react to their feelings about you. Ultimately, you should just seek to take the high road every single time. This way, you’re always on the upper ground, and everyone else is clawing at your feet.
References:
How to Tell If Someone Is Secretly Jealous of You–and How You Can Defuse It
