Recently watching a beautiful film about a couple who fall in love, make some bad decisions together before the husband comes to his senses and tries to do what is right, got me thinking about what resentment can do to a relationship if
left unchallenged.
Eventually the wife in the film tells her husband that, as a consequence of him trying to make amends and do what is right, she will never forgive as long as she lives. The husband takes the blame and ends up in prison effectively taking the
blame to protect his wife from her part and insulating her from the consequences of her actions. Later she is visited by a wise old man who tells her that living with resentment is easy; once visited it is easy to foster and grow that spirit of resentment and hatred in an attempt to feel justified. By fuelling the fire and adding to it, it grows into hatred and distrust, locking up the hurt and eventually trapping the individual in a world where being a victim is the norm and swimming in a sea of self-pity is standard practice.
He goes on to say that forgiveness is always the hard route but like all good things in life, despite being hard provides the opportunity to be set free. It takes courage, to put pride and self-interest to one side and offer forgiveness requires
effort and painful challenging thinking, yet at the end it sets us free. Its hard to imagine the freedom we find from the things we leave behind are words to a song I like. By putting aside our treasure that we have built up, whether these are our thoughts and aspirations or physical things like possessions and money we cease to be slaves. We stop living a life because we are so tied to gaining wealth, status and importance that we start to become a victim, constantly (in our eyes) wronged by others. Learning to forgive rather than resent we discover that our pride starts to fall away and our greed gives way to generosity; to reveal the real importance of life that is relationship. As the song goes on to say “cos freedoms not found in the things that we own, it’s the power to do what is right”
What can you let go of today that has been holding you captive? What can you leave behind now that will give you the power to forgive and no longer be a slave to resentment? Discover the freedom of letting go and discover new meaning for your life.
Why not call for a no obligation chat about how you might start to let go of the things that hold you back?