So many people are held by some anger, some bitterness or resentment from their past or from past events in life that their entire lives reflect it. Often they’re like lit fuses waiting to flare whenever the mere mention of the original experience is even thought of or mentioned. But the actual toll upon the soul of bearing that burden isn’t from the original source, or the original insult long since concluded; it is derived from the feelings and emotions of anger, resentment, bitterness or pain still harbored within by choice!  

Nothing we allow to fester within us ever becomes anything but an open wound, an unhealed sore or a vivid scar. We have to face what bothers us, feel what we must; but then we must learn to release it once and for all. If someone wrongs us years ago, what is the point of carrying that as a badge of honor into a time and place where no one else can change it or carry the burden for us? It is our choice to carry, but it is often then our burden to bear and ours alone! By not letting go of anger, bitterness, resentment or some perceived wounding, we are allowing ourselves to be continuously harmed by it! Surely we don’t have to forget what we deem to be a wrong, but we don’t have to hold them in our hearts, minds and beings for eternity! Letting go of the sense of being wronged, and the anger, bitterness or resentment which comes from such an experience is necessary for our lives to seem peaceful and content, as well as joyful. Even the slightest taste of that wound relived repeatedly keeps the virus of it alive within us! And no one who lives will go through life without being wronged at some point. It isn’t always easy or natural to forgive, but for the sake of having peace within as a result by doing so. It isn’t as though we have to let people off the hook or go unpunished when we believe they’ve hurt us or done something bad. But when we choose to acknowledge wrongs, purposeful and not, we are placing some weight of that on our own souls by choice! Many choose then to relive the experience through angry outbursts, bitter diatribes or resentful comments repeatedly over many years to come. And like everything else which has already come and gone, nothing can change what has already occurred!  

Choose to let go before what impacts you starts to wear on you. Give up the need to hold onto the wrongs done to you, or the wrongs you perceive that you bore unfairly, for your own sake. For just like forgiveness is a means of unloading one’s own soul of a burden by forgiving another, letting go of anger, bitterness or resentment over something long past is the healthier choice for the long run. There is nothing unjust or unfair about letting something go which no longer can be remedied or changed in any other way. Holding on to an offense you believe you endured only serves to keep you a prisoner and victim to its power! Letting something go serves to keep it from eating further away at you or from being its lifelong hostage and victim!