Jealousy is a despicable emotion; it turns even the most respectable of people into a repulsive, mangled, mess- shadows of who they were. It’s a poor medium to secure love but a secure medium to destroy one’s self-respect. Jealous people, like dope-fiends, stoop to the lowest level and in the end inspire only disgust and loathing. Now, the word “jealousy” is often used as if it were synonymous with envy; but I think there’s a distinction worth preserving: jealousy is predominantly concerned with the fear of loss of something one possesses, envy with the wish to own something another possesses. Or maybe jealousy is the fear that you do not have value, scanning for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred or rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved, always mistaking it for luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within and find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences, and put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them.