Today's
Meditation:
What
positive things have anger and resentment given birth to
in your life? What good has it brought to you or to
those you love? How many pleasant memories of nice
times with loved ones have been the result of anger?
I've
known many angry people in my life, and none of them have
inspired positive memories. I've been angry myself
many times, and never has that anger made me feel better
about myself, about life, or about any situation.
And I've found that as long as I hold on to the resentment
that I feel because of something someone else did (or that
I think they did), my anger will continue to grow, to
fester, to become a destructive force that will bring
nothing positive to my life.
As
I'm feeling the resentment, it's easy to convince myself
that it's justified, and that it's going to be productive
to express my anger. I don't think it really has
been, though, especially when I consider the potential
options to expressing my anger. Thoughts of
resentment are like logs in a fireplace, while the flame
is the anger itself-- without the logs there, there is no
fire.
How
can we get rid of thoughts of resentment? Compassion
helps-- trying to understand just why another person has
done something can help me to see the situation in a
different light. Giving the person the benefit of
the doubt may help-- perhaps they didn't understand the effects of
their action, or perhaps no one has ever taught them
proper ways to talk or act. It's possible they don't
even realize that what they've done has affected
others. Or maybe the person acted out of fear, and
it would help us and them to help them to deal with their
fear rather than getting angry at them.
Are
we going to provide our anger with plenty of fuel by
harboring thoughts of resentment, or are we going to
lessen our own spiritual and emotional load by letting go
of those feelings? Which path would be most
beneficial to the greatest number of people?
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