Beware the Green-Eyed Monster

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

Sometimes, we let jealousy and judgment hold us back from loving freely. Because when we are jealous of someone, we’ve really judged ourselves “unfit” and “unworthy.” “I don’t have what they have,” you may say to yourself. Do you know this to be true? Instead of being thankful for what one has, we become distracted by what we seemingly “don’t.”

And when we become jealous of others, we’ve judged that they don’t deserve what they have. Your sight becomes clouded. You fail to see the the beauty we all have. We become unable to find the gratitude of seeing others in a state of happiness and well-being. “Misery loves company.” And we fail to  find the gratitude of our being. It all comes back to how you view Yourself.

If you love and accept yourself, you become aware of your unique gifts that you offer the world. And you become aware of the unique gifts that others have. A gift is freely given because you are free to give it. A gift is only freely given when you are free to give it. Nothing works so well as the invisible bars that hold us in a prison of our own making. Set yourself free!

“Trifles light as air are to the jealous
confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.”
-William Shakespeare

You may feel trapped in a situation you feel you have no control over. You may feel trapped in a body that you feel has held you in bondage to pain and grief. How do you break free from that which you cannot physically see? By becoming aware of our personal struggles – the struggles of the heart – we begin to see what is holding us back. When you see, you can begin the work of removing or moving past those obstacles. When we see the insecurities for what they are, that are holding us back, then we can begin to move past them.

Let go of jealousy. Let go of judgment and condemnation. Forgive and embrace others as you forgive and embrace yourself. Then give, freely. Love, freely. The greater you love, the greater your freedom to give without conditions or attachments.

Do not hoard your gifts. You have value. You have something the world needs: the love and light residing within you, that you express uniquely True to Your Being. And if you decide to share it, I promise, though you may not be able to immediately see the profound impact you have on the world, like a pebble dropped in the waters, the ripples spread out to touch everything within vicinity – the vast sum of all parts that make up this beautiful universe.

Practice the art of true self-love by freely giving to yourself – no expectations, no conditions, no attachments. You can’t pour from an empty vessel. When we fully give to ourselves, the love and appreciation we find, our “cup runneth over.” You will find that you can no longer withhold the love you have from Yourself and Others. The chains of bondage drop, the walls that held captive fade away, the burden carried no longer weighs down.

See Yourself as You Are. Love Yourself and Others as You and They Are. Be aware of what mocks that which it feeds on, for it feeds on Yourself.

Love and Be Free.