How can one get over jealousy?

or maybe just...calm down.

Or...some way to get my mind off this.

To quickly deal with any heightened emotion, you can force yourself to take ten deep breaths. Inhale for four counts hold for seven (if you can) exhale for eight. Focus on the counting. I guarantee you will feel differently at the end. Then you can begin to think about long term ways to get over it. I think exercise helps. A vigorous yoga class will force to you think about other things. Or a climbing a rock wall. But keep breathing. That forces a mind/body change toward the calmness. Good luck.

Try beating a pillow to death w. a tennis racket.

this is what i do
- go to the gym , beat the shit out of weight bags and then use the automatic benchpress where i literally throw weights up in anger
- listen to a calming song like "Here Comes A Regular" by the replacemnts, "imagine" by john lennon, "any song by the shins
- concentrate on something else- go to digg.com and get obsessed with a topic. Or watch a really long but good movie. Go run a mile. Do your laundry. Read that book you have always wanted to read.

if all else fails,
just remember that there are certain things that we cannot get over certain things
and try to live with it - its painfull but hopefuly you'll be succeessful
dont let that one thing ruin your day

Jealousy sucks and it's hard to pin down which is why it's often called a "useless emotion."

Are you looking to understand the root cause of it, or motor through it? If so, physical activity and perspective is the way to go. If you want to stop it at it's source, it's usually the result of a serious insecurity about something. If you can nail down exactly what that is, you have a much better chance of squashing it or recognizing what's really going on in the future.

jealousy is good. it's the canary in the coal mine. it tells you something is wrong in the relationship. it's screaming, "don't ignore me with pillow beating, iron pumping, and similar distraction--discover why i'm here!"

@ archer; Is it possible that getting rid of the initial rage or fuming enables one then to analyze the issues w. some degree of calmness? Sometimes the emotions, particulary anger (which I believe is a strong component of jealousy) block rational thought. Or, at least, in my experience..

wow...you guys really came through on that one. It's hard to explain why I was jealous. But you all did a great job of instructing. I got over it...to be perfectly honest it turned out that there was no need to be jealous at all.

That is what you will normally find with jealousy, especially if you leave it be for a little while and then think about it later. In my experience, I have found that jealousy only hurts you, and it never leads to anything positive. Taking a step back before reacting, when you feel jealous, really helps to avoid making irrational decisions or comments.

Get even! Or pretend to.