Is jealousy a motivator or does it discourage you from doing something? If you know someone is jealous of you, do you take it in stride or does it make you feel bad?

Someone once said that if you have no enemies, you're doing something wrong. I guess there is some truth to that. For a person to take notice of you and feel enough jealousy that you are aware of it, directly or indirectly, then you must be accomplished, right? Or can the littlest things drive a person to throw daggers and cavort with the green-eyed monster? I guess I'm still thinking this over...

There are times where I am jealous of others, it can be material items but in my life it has been jealousy over love. Yes, I have a heart, and understand when it affects others, but what about that jealousy that erupts from nowhere?

Mistress_Elle wrote: Someone once said that if you have no enemies, you're doing something wrong.

I had a friend once who said "if you are not falling down, you are not skiing hard enough". A few weeks later he suffered a skiing accident resulting in several compound fractures, and spent six weeks in a body cast :p

For myself, I like people to like me, that is my true inner wish. But I have an inner evil streak that cannot help to let forth my sarcastic humor, which can make people at best afraid of me, at worst to even dislike me a bit. And part of this evilness likes when people are jealous of me. So what Mistress says is meaningful. If everyone liked me as a "nice person" I would also probably be a very boring person. (Probably why I would make a lousy slave, despite my fetishes tending towards that direction.)

A world without jealousy would maybe be a safe and comfortable world, but it would, alas, also be a boring one.

Jealousy is a weird thing. Often times it is very subjective. It can be legitimate in that one genuinely wishes they had something of another, or it can be completely misguided and used to justify one's actions.

dave07 wrote: And part of this evilness likes when people are jealous of me. So what Mistress says is meaningful. If everyone liked me as a "nice person" I would also probably be a very boring person. (Probably why I would make a lousy slave, despite my fetishes tending towards that direction.) A world without jealousy would maybe be a safe and comfortable world, but it would, alas, also be a boring one.

I agree, a nice person is just that, nice. I hope I'm more interesting than that, and maybe that evilness, as you call it dave, is really something different. Perhaps a driving force within us to achieve more, strive harder, go further...
I guess we should think of jealousy as a sometimes useful tool then.

ok, after thinking a little longer about this (before I was rushed), I have more to add. I agree Elle, it can be a tool. I think jealousy can also be a great motivator-- especially amongst subs... in that, while a sub should be willing to serve at the level of quality their Mistress expects and even if they are, if the jealously stems from competition, it certainly can kick their willingness to serve up a notch.

Jealousy is a very natural emotion. I wouldn't deny myself that anymore than I would any other emotion. But, it is how I handle that jealousy, and what I do with it. No different than any other emotion, I can choose to deal with it, or allow it to control my actions. My motto is usually, kill 'em with kindness.. it annoys them much more than it does me lol.

I don't think jealousy is a bad thing, is part of our human emotions, everyone feels jealous of something, I am jealous of dominic purcells wife -lol- just roll with it..

i agree with wtbb - is this a male sub thing? :). One thing is to set your objectives according to something or someone you admire and try to get there (a sub trying to match their Goddess's standards, maybe) and another thing is to want the other to come down to your level - i.e. you would prefer that person not to have what they have. This, for me, is jealousy. i don't say that i don't feel it but i would be careful for it not to influence my thoughts or actions.

I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not!!!

Jealousy is a huuuggggeeee motivator for me because it transforms into determination. For me, it's not so much about, 'what can i do to sabotage someone's life so i'm not jealous of them anymore?', it's more about 'what can i do to improve my own life so they're jealous of me?'.
Study and career wise, it's worked brilliant for me. If you can twist it to be a positive motivator the results are endless.

personally, I like knife play.