Releasing can be really difficult, but is ultimately rewarding, so let’s consider “What’s eating you?”
Some things are really hard for us to release.
They just keep eating at us as we go over and over the issue in our head.
Ok, agreed. But what are we to do? Fact is, this problem isn’t going to heal itself or magically get better.
Some Considerations
I think we can agree that life is imperfect. And, that life isn’t always perfectly fair.
We’re going to get stepped on and beat up by life.
Worse yet, nobody seems to care that we’ve been mistreated!
And, the absolute worse situation is there’s no one to step in and save the day for us!
How unfair!
Here are some considerations to assist with reframing the issue. No, not fixing it!
First, is this something that we can control? If NO then hanging on isn’t helping, is it?
Second, are we willing to step back and acknowledge just how childish it sounds for us to scream “unfair” without addressing the issue head-on?
Third, how important is this anyway? That is, if we’re able to set aside the feeling that this is unfair, are there other, much more critical issues that demand our attention right now?
Now, if we’re being honest, the answer to that last question is most likely YES!
The Precept
The “What’s more critical?” question is raised in Proverbs 19.11. There Solomon tells us that when we recognize what’s most essential we will let some things go. We set aside our anger and move on to what really matters!
Proverbs 19.11 Paraphrase: When we grasp what’s essential we release lesser things, thereby building our credibility. proberbsforprofessionals.net
Moving On
We must decide just how important this issue is to us. Here are two questions to consider:
1). Is this issue so critical that we’re willing to drag it around for months or years?
2). Do we really want to allow vindictiveness or bitterness to eat away at us?
Truly, it’s a poor choice to answer Yes to those two questions.
Why a poor choice? Because of what we’re trading away in terms of lost productivity and life enjoyment by clinging to that bitterness and anger.
Apply This Today
Back to the original question: What’s eating you? Just how important is it?
The photo in this post shows how fog hides mountains we know are there. Similarly, what we’re unwilling to release is the fog in life that’s hiding who we could become.