Resentment is Toxic

Elizabeth May Sutor

For some reason, I've been thinking about how we beat ourselves up for not having done things differently in our past. "If I had only", "I should've", "Why didn't I", "I wish I hadn't". But we are basing all this on what we know NOW. We didn't have that information in the past; we didn't have the wisdom and insight that came from making a lunk-headed choice and then learning from it. There is no way we could have made any different choice than what we did at that time, really; because we only gained wisdom from having made the dopey choice in the first place! So now I'm thinking about how difficult it is to forgive some people for their actions in the past, and maybe, in order to understand this and to do it, we have to first forgive ourselves. Maybe we need to show compassion to ourselves before we can show compassion to others.

LET NOTHING DISTURB YOU. LET NOTHING FRIGHTEN YOU. ALL THINGS ARE CHANGING. GOD ALONE IS CHANGELESS. PATIENCE ATTAINS THE GOOD. ONE WHO HAS GOD LACKS NOTHING. GOD (LOVE) ALONE FILLS OUR NEEDS. St. Teresa of Avila