Lesson: Dealing with Jealousy
Conversation
Answer the following questions. You might be asked to write them down or answer them out-loud.
- Do you consider yourself a jealous person? Why? Why not?
- What can people do because of jealousy?
- Do you think jealousy is part of a good relationship? Why?
- Some people say that jealousy is a demonstration of love, do you agree? Why?
- What can people be jealous of?
- Are you more jealous with your personal objects or your relationships?
- Why do the possession feelings sometimes dominate people more than anything else?
- Is there any secret to handle jealousy?
- Can jealousy ruin a relationship? How?
- Do you agree that everyone is a bit jealous at some moments in life? Why?
Vocabulary
Look at the vocabulary below. Take time to explore the links for their definitions in English and their translations to Portuguese. When you are done, make a sentence with each word. Ask your teacher if you should write them down or say them out loud.
Video
Watch the following video but DON'T read the transcript yet.
After watching the video do this listening exercise.
Reading practice
Read the following transcript then do the associated reading comprehension exercise.
It's that knot in your stomach, that mix of fear and anxiety that materializes when you feel threatened by someone prettier than you, smarter than you. It can cause you to do something pretty stupid sitcom level stuff, Just to regain control. Things that usually hurt other people too. You're probably familiar with this feeling, It's what Shakespeare called The Green Eyed Monster. Today we're talking about jealously.
Here is the thing kids, jealousy is a distinctly first person emotion. It almost always comes from a place of insecurity, which you ultimately project on others. The bottom line, jealousy isn’t about the other person, it´s about you.
Today at Wellcast we're gonna help you work through this insecurities, so that your friends and your loved ones don't get caught in the cross fire. We'll give you three coping mechanisms to help you keep that jealousy from taking complete control of your life, ruining your relationships and making you look totally stupid. I know you felt that viselike grip from the Green Eyed Monster, because you're not alone, it happens to everyone. Study shows that children as young as six months grimace when their mothers interact with a dummy baby. It´s pretty much the occupational hazard of belonging to the human race. We wanna be loved and we do not wanna be ignored. Unfortunately, long after we've walked on our diapers we still become a little child like when we are jealous.
Jealousy tends to come with the specific set of blinders and the more jealous we are less able we are to, let's say empathize with others. For example, a study conducted by the researches of the University of Delaware found that jealous people were more easily distracted and less able to perform simple memory games. So, let´s try to figure it out how to get your jealousy issues under control.
Take out your Wellcast journal, we've got a three step system for this and it´s simple: acknowledge; communicate; and resolve. So the next time you´re in a situation where experiencing those extreme jealous thoughts, go into a separate room take out your Wellcast journal and calm down.
Step 1: Acknowledge
Admit it, you're jealous and you can't run from your feelings. But by addressing your jealousy head on, you can keep it from taking on epic unrealistic proportions. Write down exactly what´s making you jealous and why. Let´s say you´ve just found out that your two best friends didn’t invite you to that movie that they caught last week. put it out: my friends are hanging out without me, I'm scared they'll stop being my friend. It's ok to be a little dramatic, it's just your journal.
Step 2: Communicate
Now that all of your embarrassing thoughts are all on paper, go get the real story. Don’t have an imaginary argument with your friends in your head, it's only gonna make things worse. Tell them how you feel about what happened. Be vulnerable and apologize to them if you've overreacted in anyway, because you might have. Make it clear that you´re expressing your feelings and not stating facts. Speak in “I” statements, I fell like you didn’t want to hang out with me because you´re tired of me. That´s your insecurity. At a certain point the only way to get over your jealousy is to stop thinking about yourself all the time and see someone else´s point of view.
Step 3: Resolve.
And this will be the hardest part for you, because now you´ll have to listen. Your friends might tell that you´re overreacting and they might be right. "We know you don’t like horror movies so we didn’t think to invite you."
Let´s recap? That big bad green eyed monster gets all of us sometimes. But today, we learned three ways to keep it at bay. By acknowledging your own insecurities, communicating with others and ultimately: listening.
Writing practice
Write a short article about a jealousy scene you´ve witnessed or gone through. Make sure to use words you learned from the text and try to make it as long as you can.
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