The green eyed monster of jealousy overcomes the best of us all sometimes but that is, or so I believe, only what makes us human. There is however a line between natural jealously and selfishness and thats where it becomes a problem. Here are a few tell-tale signs that your best friend is being overcome by jealousy leading to an unhealthy friendship.
In a close friendship I think anyone would agree that support is a key factor in making things work. If you start to notice that as your hard work begins paying off to give you the life you’ve always wanted your best friend is being less and less supportive this could be down to jealousy. If this is so, it means that the happiness you have found for yourself is merely reminding them that they haven’t found the same.
The removal of support could be noticed in a few different aspects of your friendship. You cold notice them slowly removing themselves from usual rituals such as Friday nights out or shopping trips as they don’t want to constantly be reminded of your happiness. For the times when they are still around to witness you doing well, however, you may find they pay you back-handed compliments. For example, You look really nice but your dress could be a bit lighter, you got a job but its only because you had connections. A jealous person is unable to acknowledge the fact that some of what you have may be extremely well deserved and earned.
Jealousy can also manifest itself as snide little comments which can leave you feeling shut down. Seeing as naturally your best friend should be the one to pay you compliments and be there for you through almost anything, this can be disguised as tough love. You just have to know your friend well enough to see when their pessimism is going overboard.
Communication is key in any relationship so if you begin to sense your friend is having these feelings the best thing to do would be to confront it straight away by trying to talk it out. Reflect on yourself and wonder if you are doing anything that could be making these feelings worse for them. After this you will have done your best and cannot feel too guilty if your friendship is failed, moving on and letting go is always that much easier when you know within yourself you have tried.
