Once I learned compassion, forgiveness, and empathy for myself, I’m better equipped to forgive others.

Jareds last blog post..Maintaining a positive attitude and rechanneling anger through perspective and practice

Chaos is such a good word for what happens! I’ve noticed that even when I try and ride out resentment, saying to myself, “Oh, I can deal with this. It’s only a little thing,” – it’s a mistake!

At the time I think I’m maintaining peace, but really, I’m fostering chaos inside because I’ve let go of integrity. In other words, how I feel inside and how I act outside is not congruent. For me that’s the beginning of chaos!

Resentment is an incredibly important topic for personal growth.

I’ve been in recovery from drugs and alcohol for 17 years. I’ve seen many people unable to recover because they could not let go of past resentments, regrets, and failures. They found it nearly impossible to live in the present moment.

One of the best ways I’ve learned to get rid of resentment is to meditate on release and forgiveness – and then to pray that the person you resent is blessed in all that they do. If you can summon the strength to do that – they will no longer occupy your thoughts.

Not an easy thing to learn or do – but very effective.

Chad Prigmores last blog post..Just Finished Reading, “Way of the Peaceful Warrior”

It’ll be great if you can now release your old resentments.
Old resentments can be very sticky, can’t they?

I like what you say: “Simply, allow the emotion or pain, make space for it, and ask yourself if you can let go.”

Yes, it’s important to allow the pain. Take, for example, my story about driving past the house I lost. At that moment, I felt a sting of regret. I felt it, and I honoured the feeling, without trying to deny it.

But I didn’t allow my mind to weave stories around that sudden feeling of loss.

Let me give you an example: Yesterday I drove past a beautiful house that used to be mine before I lost it through divorce proceedings.

As I drove past, I notice my thoughts starting to settle on the loss of this house, and all the ‘what if’s’ that are associated with losing it.

At that moment I had a choice: do I go down that mind-road or not?

I decided not to. It would only have led to bitterness and would have disturbed the treasured friendship with my ex-husband.

So, I said to myself “I let go!” and consciously started thinking of something else. In other words, I opened the prison door!

We are afraid to let go, as you point out, because the past is a part of our identity, and also because we think we don’t know how to let go. The miraculous thing is that we all knew how to let go as children very naturally, and we can quickly re-learn this. Simply, allow the emotion or pain, make space for it, and ask yourself if you can let go. It’s that simple, and with just a little practice, it becomes instant and natural.

Kaushiks last blog post..Awareness and Release –The Two-Step Dance of Awakening