If there is one thing I've learned in life, it's that I don’t hold grudges. I don’t sweat stuff. I don’t “stop talking” to people or argue and shout to get a point across.
I figured out a very long time ago in life that being human is hard. Being human means we have fears, doubts, habits, addictions, regrets, and all manner of emotions. Being human means we say and do things in the moment that in hindsight, we regret years later. But being human also means being able to forgive, forget, move on, put the past in the past and know we can’t change what we said, did or felt back then.
We have choices in life. Things people may have said or done to me when we were teens and tweens hasn’t affected my life because I chose not to allow it to.
Our individual worlds can be falling down around us, be it bankruptcy, unemployment, financial hardship or just feeling like crap more days than not.
Being human means we have the ability to make the choice to let it consume us, or choose to acknowledge the issue and calm down. I have chosen the latter for most of my life. It’s easier.
Does it make the problem go away? Not in the slightest.
Does it help me get through each day when I rise above the issue and not let it define my day? Absolutely.
And that is how I chose to live my life. To not live in the past, dwell on regrets and agonize over things done and not done. There is no point in feeling that way. People tell me I have the patience of a saint. And I do, and at the heart of it is this choice.
It’s a much more peaceful way to live our daily lives.