Hey friends, it's Rosie here.
Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Tuesday.
There's an old Buddhist saying,
holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it to someone else.
you are the one who gets burned.
Needless to say, I've burned myself more times than I'd like to admit.
There was a situation a few years ago where I felt deeply wronged by someone.
A close friend betrayed my trust, and instead of addressing it head on, I let the resentment fester.
Every time I thought about it, my stomach would tighten, my jaw would clench.
I was carrying this anger like a weight.
And the worst part?
They had no idea.
They had completely moved on.
We would go have a tea date, and they would carry on like everything was well in the world.
Meanwhile, I sat there stewing, deep in the grips of my internal suffering.
Okay, well, maybe it wasn't that deep, but it sure felt like it.
I think at an intellectual level,
we know and maybe even understand that resentment doesn't punish the other person.
It punishes us.
So there's this idea that if we let go, it's beneficial to us, right?