“O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on.” William Shakespeare

What is jealousy? According to Webster's dictionary, jealousy is described as "the state of being jealous." In order to unravel the circular reasoning we must discover what jealous means. Jealous is a resentful envy as of someone's success, achievements, advantages, etc.

Envy and jealousy are closely related, however a connotation difference exists. To quote Webster, "Envy denotes a longing to possess something awarded to or achieved by another. . .Jealousy, on the other hand, denotes a feeling of resentment that another has gained something that one more rightfully deserves. Jealousy also refers to anguish caused by fear of losing someone or something to a rival."

As you may have gathered from the above explanations, jealousy can be unhealthy or healthy, depending on your motivation. Unhealthy jealousy stems from fear, insecurity, deception, or covetousness. When you feel yourself acting out in jealousy, you need to examine the reason why you feel jealous.

Does a threat truly exist or is your perception off base? When you are battling insecurity, another person's achievements may come across to you as a threat. For example, a co-worker gets a raise for putting in extra hours on an important subject. Instead of being thrilled for him, you feel jealous even though you did not put the same hours in. You take his promotion as a personal reflection on you.

Next time you feel the angst of jealousy creep into your chest stop, think, and discern the source of jealousy. Once you discover why you are jealous you need to deal with the issue.

Jealousy occurs in everyday life, it also occurs in the racing industry. We talk about mentally and physically prepared to run a certain event and how important it is to clear your mind before competition for better results. Clear away your jealousy and work on switching that negative to positive by inviting Envy into your life. When you welcome envy as a positive, your insides will be cleansed and your outcome more successful. Trust me….

Jealousy stems from yourself and how your perceive YOU. Your lack of self esteem makes a direct impact on how you deal with jealousy. Do you lake self esteem, confidence and spirit? Working on yourself will get you to the top faster.

Building self esteem is an internal process. Let's see what is not about. It is not about convincing ourselves that we are valuable, nor feeling confident or feeling good when other people praise us, nor having the best body, or the best career. It is the Knowing that you are worth already. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, means:

The 3 last sentences are linked to pride , complacence and confidence. Let's take a look at this words:

Over the past few years I have heard jealousy and witnessed it in the racing industry. Those who wear it on the arms of their leathers are usually the ones who have to win a semi or pack up early and head home. Take a hard look at yourself, weather you are a racer, sponsor, promoter, fan , crew member or family of the previous, dig deep and look at yourself. If jealousy outweighs envy ask yourself why? Jealousy can destroy you and the people around you. Envy will make you feel better, work harder and achieve goals with dignity and pride.

Enjoy your week..

Jennifer