Letting Go

A new concept I’ve been trying on for size (in my head) is letting go. Letting go of resentment, jealousy, competitiveness (the bad kind, not the healthy kind), repressed anger ~ you know, basically any emotion that is futile and self-defeating. Paraphrasing James Arthur Ray, “Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison every day and hoping the other person will die.”

I am toying with the idea of applying that same sentiment to resentment, jealousy, competitiveness (the bad kind, not the healthy kind) and repressed anger. Something inside me is beginning to click and I'm starting to realize I’m tired of drinking the poison. Who has time for that? And besides, my stomach hurts. As trite as it may sound, life really is too short (and it’s getting shorter) to allow those emotions any more space in my brain. Not to mention what it would do for my blood pressure.

It won’t happen overnight ~ some of these emotions run deep and have longevity. But it is a theory worth considering and I think I might work on it. It seems there is a lot more I want to say on the subject, but I’m just not there yet. Baby steps…

A couple of thoughts I’ll leave with you (and myself as well):

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
** Monhandas Gandhi

"When you forgive, you in no way change the past - but you sure do change the future."
**Bernard Meltzer

And on another note - a different slant - with which I happen to agree as well:

"Just because you forgive someone doesn't mean you have to invite them up to the house for potato salad."
**Oprah

Amen.