Q For Quarantine.

This word has been used so much over the last three months it is almost a household name now. As a matter of fact, I won’t be surprised if nine months from now we have some kids with first name Quarantine.  

According to my usual online dictionary, the word quarantine can be used in two ways; either as a noun or as a verb.

As a noun, it means a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed.

As a verb, it simply means the act of putting a person or animal in isolation.

For purposes of this article today, I will be using the verb as the foundation of my entire message.

If you have recently returned from traveling to a part of the country or the world where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, or if you have knowingly been exposed to an infected person, you will be asked to either self-quarantine or you will be forcefully quarantined by the powers that be. 

Of course the reason such stringent measures are being taken is because this disease is killing fast and furious, without favor or fear. But if you ask me, besides COVID-19 I believe there are some other lethal viruses we need to self-quarantine ourselves from, “viruses” that most people don’t even think about though they have the potential to damage our lives in a very big way. 

Today I want to share my reasons why I think people suffering from this one virus should be quarantined.

Let's talk about Jealousy.

I once read a #MugabeQuote somewhere that said, "jealousy is the first process one goes through before becoming a witch." Having read that quote I couldn't help but conclude that there is a reason why jealousy is also known as the “green-eyed monster”.  Jealousy can create a monster out of someone who was an angel. If you don’t understand what I mean, ask Lucifer what happened to him.

So, how does the jealousy virus enter the human body? It begins in the mind.

You see, the moment you are hit by lack of self-confidence, suddenly you start fearing that you will lose what you already have. In other words, lack of self-confidence is the carrier of the virus called jealousy.

The main cause for feelings of jealousy is your own doubts about your abilities or skills. A poor self image and lack of self confidence can result in making you Feel insecure about a relationship and this can be a strong reason that can make you jealous.  Now you know where the “catfights” you witness between women fighting for a man usually come from.

I once read somewhere that,“haters don’t really hate you. In fact, they hate themselves because you are a reflection of what they wish to be.” This clearly tells us how the virus of jealousy is transferred to a person; it starts with comparing yourself to other people, which then leads to feelings of insecurity stemming from doubting your own abilities and skills which then cause a serious case of lack of self-confidence.

Though this is not my topic for today, I'd like to say something about the danger of comparing yourself to other people.

The thing about comparison is that you might be comparing yourself with someone who is in Episode 40 of Season 20 of their life’s series, while you are just in Episode 4 of season 2 of yours. For you to be where that person is right now, you have 18 more seasons and several episodes to catch up! It’s like a newborn baby comparing itself to its Mom! How now?? Anyway, that's a topic for another day.

So how do you know someone is suffering from jealousy?

1. Imitation – jealous people are never original. They thrive on copying and pasting other people’s ideas. 

2. Insincere compliments – they will act like they like you, but the minute your back is turned, they say a lot of sh*t behind your back.

3. They belittle your success – they will say things to minimize your accomplishments, either directly or indirectly, to others or straight to your face.

4. They are rumormongers – a jealous person will start negative rumors about you so that everyone can see you in a negative light.

5. They are faultfinders – there is nothing you will ever do in their eyes that is good. They will always try to find ways of pulling you down by finding fault in all you do.

6. They dislike you for no reason – in some cases, they don’t even know you but they just dislike you anyway.

7. They will never support your endeavors – a jealous person will never support anything you do but they will be quick to laugh and publish your failures or mistakes. 

There could be many others symptoms, but for today I'd like to end the list of symptoms at that.

So, have you seen someone with the above symptoms? Tell them there is hope. The good thing is that unlike COVID-19, jealousy has a cure. 

We have been given the COVID-19 self-quarantine instructions by WHO so I won't dwell on that. I will however share the instructions on what to do when under quarantine due to jealousy.

• Stop comparing yourself with others! Remember, their season 20 episode 40 could be your season 1 episode 4. 
• Nobody has it all – this is something you need to constantly remind yourself. There will always be someone better than you in one way or another, just in the same way you will be better than someone else in a different way.
• Focus on the good in your life – in other words, have a gratitude attitude. There are so many things you can be grateful for but instead you choose to focus on the things you don’t have. That is a sure sign of being infected.
• Avoid bad company – in this case I mean people who habitually value wrong things such as gossip, etc.
• Intentionally celebrate the success of others - stop viewing life as a competition. When somebody receives something that you desire, be happy for them and keep in mind that if you wanted it, they probably did too!
• Stop living in the past – its gone, never to come back. So why are you going back to open the archives? Focus on creating a new history and forget the old history, which hurt you.​

Those are some of the things you should consider doing while you are in self-quarantine due to jealousy. Remember, jealousy is a disease. 

In case you know someone who is showing symptoms of jealousy now you know what to tell them with regards to the jealousy self-quarantine program. And if this person happens to be you, may you get well soon. 

Listen to the episode on Q For Quarantine here

Be ignited. Be inspired. Be influenced. Become the best version of yourself you can ever be.