Work it out or drop it.
Most of us have some sort of grievance with someone. It may be old or it may be recent. We’re upset about something that was said or done and the anger and hurt is very much alive within us.
Sometimes we’ve been harboring a grudge against another person for years. It’s entirely possible they may not even be aware of our feelings around the issue. And yet, we may go one year after year, holding on to our resentment, with no resolution in sight.
Being mired in this painful emotion limits us. It hampers our ability to have a healthy relationship with the other person. It also impacts our capacity to trust others and establish new relationships.
The poison of old resentment can affect our mental and physical health as well. Holding onto the grudge likely hurts us far more than it does the other person.
The sane course is for us to find a way to let go of our difficult emotions. There are numerous ways to do so. We can pick one that feels best to us and then simply go ahead with it.
We may choose to discuss our feelings with the other person. We may or may not receive an apology from them. But at the very least, we’ll have expressed ourselves and released the pent up emotions.
We may elect, on consideration, to limit the presence of the other individual in our lives. It’s a more extreme choice but may be merited if the difficult situation is ongoing.
Or we can simply choose to let our feelings go. That doesn’t mean we forget what happened. We just don’t allow a past situation to poison our now. Forgiving and letting go is more for us than for the other person.
Today’s message invites me to find a way to release a longer-standing grudge. When I express or let my feelings go, I free myself to have better interactions now and in the future.
Please reflect and share. What grudge might you release?