Chapter Three of Cats are Cool

Princess, the Green-Eyed Monster

The truth is, Princess is a really beautiful cat, with soft grey fur and big round green eyes. Her eyes are so big that some people say she looks like an owl. That’s not why I called her a green-eyed monster, however! You may not know what a green eyed monster is either, but Princess will teach you all about it.

After Princess had lived with me for about two years and the two of us were very happy together, a friend of mine (yes I finally made friends in Rio de Janeiro!) had to travel to China for about a year. She had a cat named Muffet. Muffet couldn’t go to China, so she came to live with me for a year. I was happy to have a new friend in my house. Princess was NOT! Princess, who was so gentle and loving, suddenly began a real monster. She growled at Muffet. She fought with her. She ate her food. If I even tried to pet Muffet, Princess came running and smacked Muffet really hard. Poor Muffet! She was a timid little cat and she soon became afraid of Princess and of me.

Still, I understand how Princess felt. After all, she had had all my affection and attention to herself and now she had to share it. I remember once when and my cousin came to stay at my house. I hid all my toys and made my mother promise she wouldn’t let my cousin touch anything. Putting it simply, I was jealous. Just plain jealous that Sally, my cousin, would get something I wouldn’t. Frankly, I haven’t changed much. When I hear about how someone I know is a big success or has lots of money, I get that same kind of feeling. My stomach kind of twists up, my lips get tight, and my heart grows very small. There is a nasty feeling inside of me. I wish that person’s life hadn’t turned out so well. Or that those things had happened to me. I am JEALOUS. I have been attacked by the green-eyed monster called jealousy! I’m no different than my cat. Oh my goodness!

Have you ever had that feeling? Maybe someone at school made a better grade than you. Or a friend got a new toy, just like what you wanted, but don’t have. Or your mother gives extra special attention to your brother or sister. Can you remember sometime when the “green-eyed monster” attacked you?

The problem is that jealousy is a terrible thing. It doesn’t make us happy, nor does it help the person we are jealous of. God certainly understands that we sometimes feel that way. He doesn’t want us be jealous, however. He told us that we should NOT desire ANYTHING for ourselves that belongs to another person. That’s not easy.

To help out Princess, I decided to give her some extra love. I gave her a new food dish, just for her. When I gave attention to Muffet, I did it for from Princess. Gradually Princess began to feel I still loved her and having Muffet wasn’t going to change anything.

When you feel jealous, you can’t very well ask for a new food dish! There is something you can do, however. You can try to remember all the good things God has already given you. You can remember what a wonderful friend he is. You can recall that no matter what happens or what you do, God loves you in a special way. Each time you start to feel like the “green-eyed monster” of jealousy is getting close to you, say to yourself: “I am very special. God loves me. He cares for me.” If it helps, you can even say the words aloud. You can also ask God to take away that ugly feeling of jealousy, to learn to be content with who you are and what you have. He really will help you. You will also want to confess to God that you know jealousy is a sin and that you need His help not to feel that way anymore.

By the way, Princess and Muffet finally did learn to be friends. It took a while for Princess to get over her jealousy and Muffet to get over her timidity, but they did and the three of us lived peacefully together. I bet you can learn to live in peace without a green-eyed monster around, too!