On holding on to anger

[The People]

Last night I was playing scrabble with a friend. We talked as we played (more talking than playing which is the best part of the game). Sigh. I lost. But friend shared 2 quotes someone gave her and as I really liked them I thought I would share them. (She couldn't remember one so she just emailed them to me as I would never remember them well enough to quote)

Forgive-to give up resentment against or the desire to punish; give up all claims to punish or exact penalty for an offence.

Holding onto resentments is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Both are good. Second is so true. First comes and goes for me. But I remember when the mother moved on. I talked with a friend about it. As I had not yet decided whether h*ll really existed (whole other discussion for another board) I thought about what I would choose for her I was handed the decision. I decided that I could never send her downward. In that moment I may have begun the journey of letting go of my anger toward her. That was '92 so it was not an overnight AHA moment. But it was a start. Life lessons. Strange.