Bitterness and anger trapped inside your body- sound fun to you? The common practice of holding a grudge, or harboring negative emotions against someone who has wronged us, is poisonous both mentally and physically. So why do we do it? Even when the hurt feelings are justified, grudges only serve to hurt us further while doing nothing to solve the offense suffered or repair the damaged relationship. Here’s some steps you can take to release the ugly feelings, and move toward forgiveness and inner peace.
1. Sort through the emotion; get to the heart of what hurt you.
Before confronting another in anger, or determining you can never forgive them, find out if there are deeper issues involved. Perhaps the offender hit a deeper nerve they were not even aware of. There is an old writer’s motto that states, “I write because I don’t know how I feel until I read it.” Journaling out all the feelings involved in the offense, the grudge, and the reactions you are having might reveal other ways to look at things and release much of the pain, leaving room for forgiveness.
What image does the word addict conjure up in your mind? Are you thinking of the stereotypical movie character who is trembling in an alley night after night looking for a “fix”? Most people believe that an addict is easily identifiable by their disheveled looks, by their inability to function in day-to-day life, or by recognizable constant “loaded” behaviors. This picture of addiction is simply untrue; and the danger of believing in the movie character addict persona is what can allow a person to continue in a dangerous pattern of addiction unaware.
Exciting news! We’ve outgrown our Utah County location in Provo so we are moving to a new office space THIS SAT.