How do you react to jealousy? One when someone is jealous of you and two when you are jealous of someone...

both questions are in some way related.... so take a hypothetical situation for instance ... say you have always craved for that exquisite dress in the window of a fancy boutique.... and you never did have enough money to buy it..... but you make do by looking at the dress everyday to and back from work... promising yourself everyday that one day you will save up enough money to buy that dress... and then you envisage yourself wearing that dress and making a splash in society....

Cut to reality... you never did manage to save enough for that dress... and worse, your friend/colleague actually bought that dress and is now making that splash in society instead of you.....

What do you do?

A. You chastise the friend (without revealing that you have lusted after that dress for the longest time) and tell her that she is financially irresponsible for having spent so much money on a dress.... :"Are you going to waste money ? If you buy so many things you will run out of money and then you will one day look back and wonder why you spent so much on clothes? You dont even have a house - so what would you rather have - a house or good clothes? Anyways that dress does not look good on you".

B. You congratulate the friend on the new possession - but slyly mention that the colour does not suit her (the dress looks fabulous on her in your honest opinion)

C. You criticise the dress and its value in front of the friend - Hmmm.. I wonder whether this dress will last ... look at the fabric... maybe you should not wear it so often....
Soon your friend looks sheepish in the dress - goal!

D. You say nothing to your friend, you ignore her and the dress and mingle with other people who have nothing to do with the dress...

E. You go upto the friend and confess that you have always wanted that dress but never could manage enough to buy it... and mention that it looks good on her !

Which of the options above would you honestly choose?

I have been on both sides of the fence.... and trust me when jealousy rears its head it always ends up hurting both parties........ you feel sad.... for the loss of the uncomplicated relationship that you had with your friend... for the realisation that from now on you are not looking out for your friends interest or that your friend is not looking out for your interest....

Its a loss of friendship in any event....