How do you stop destructive behavior, nagging, and repetitive,
"stupid" questions when you are jealous?
This is such a great question and...
If jealousy is keeping you, your partner or
anyone you know stuck in behavior that you're not proud of,
or keeping you from the love and relationship you really want
we suggest that you read on.
We also recommend you pick up a copy of our
program for overcoming jealousy called "No
More Jealousy."
In fact, as we are thinking about relationships -- we would
put nagging, continuous questioning and other destructive
behaviors, such as checking cell phones, emails etc into the
"Moving Away From" category..
What this means is...
These are behaviors that would actually "move you away
from" what you want in your relationship or marriage,
instead of moving the two of you closer together.
In fact, we would put anything that you might do that whips
you or your partner into a negative emotional frenzy and keeps
you from having the closeness and connection you really want
into another category as well.
It's the "Something needs to be shifted or changed for
the sake of your relationship" category.
Is there a time and a place for "checking up" on
your partner?
Yes, of course--if you have a strong premonition that he
or she is cheating and communication has broken down between
you so much that you don't know the difference between truth
and lies, then you may need to do some checking up.
Think about this...
Recently, we received a question from a woman who said that
she had an extreme situation about jealousy and wanted our
help.
Although she knows her boyfriend's not cheating, she's not
only jealous of other women he might come in contact with
but she's jealous of everyone--and she's tired of feeling
this way.
To top it off, her boyfriend has moved to another city for
a career shift and it's driving her crazy!
There's a lot to be learned about overcoming
jealousy here and here's a bit of what she wrote to us...
She told us that she can't stop herself from nagging and
destructive behavior.
From the many emails we get everyday from
people who are struggling with jealousy, we
know that you may be shaking your head right now and saying,
"That sounds just like me!"
And if you're also in a long-distance relationship, jealousy
probably comes up for you even more intensely than if you
were together--although we know that jealousy can certainly
be intense if your partner's right beside you, even while
you watch
television together.
What we have discovered is this...
When it comes to jealousy, most people are
usually jealous for one of two reasons...
1) There's something to truly be jealous of and the fears
are not unfounded
OR...
2) There's nothing going on outside the relationship and
the person is projecting their past experiences (or maybe
even their future) thoughts or possibilities into the present
moment and their fears are causing
them to be jealous. Sometimes incredibly so.
What may be going on in this case is that this
woman is subconsciously looking for validation that her partner
is or will be unfaithful.
While we know that she is not consciously trying to prove
his unfaithfulness, she is setting herself up and waiting
for the other shoe to drop--so to speak.
So what's the answer to stopping the destructive behavior,
"nagging" and "silly" questions--especially
when you know they are unfounded?
Here's a 3-step process we've discovered that
we think can really help...
1. Stop, breathe and turn inside
When a thought that triggers jealousy enters
your head (it usually starts with a thought that you've thought
over and over), stop yourself from reacting the way you always
have before.
Now this may take a bit of practice and you
may have to argue with yourself but just stop.
Take a breath and turn your attention inside
you.
When you lapse into destructive behavior,
nagging or whatever you want to call it, you
are looking outside yourself.
Before you react, look inside.
2. Look at what you are feeling and allow
those feelings to be there without acting on
them in this moment.
Tune into the fear of loss, the anger or any
other fear that comes up.
Just breathe into the feeling until you can
feel yourself relaxing a little.
3. Ask yourself if bringing up this concern
will bring you closer to what you want or
take you further from it.
If you have asked the same question a
hundred times before and you've gotten the same answer, you
have to ask what's the purpose in asking.
What answer do you expect?
What will prove that he or she isn't cheating or whatever
it is you fear?
What reassurance do you want from your question?
The idea is to challenge your habitual way of thinking and
acting--and take a better route to what you want.
Trying to control your partner by continually asking annoying
and irritating questions of your partner's whereabouts usually
doesn't work.
In fact, it usually only irritates that other person and causes
them to go into protection (or even anger) mode--which isn't
what you want.
So stop.
Just find out if there's space for the two of you to connect
that will allow you to feel you are loved.
How do you go for connection instead of asking nagging questions?
You have to learn to communicate with each other and to create
agreements.
You have to listen to your partner and you have to listen
to yourself.
If you need help with communication and making agreements,
check out
http://www.StopTalkingonEggshells.com
If you can relate to any of this, we urge you to make some
changes in your life.
Try even one of our suggestions and see what happens.