2014-1012 Recycling Grudges

Hi All -

In my neighborhood, garbage and materials for recycling are picked up every Monday.  The trucks make their rounds early in the morning (usually) so I try to get everything ready by Sunday evening.  Plastic, metal cans, paper and cut-up cardboard go into one can and garden waste goes into a different container.  Unwanted things that cannot be recycled go into a third container. 

So every Monday, I get rid of things that I no longer want.  Just recently, I threw out some old pillows that were no longer serviceable.  Old clothing that is no longer wearable and too shabby to donate is a good candidate to throw out as well. 

Over the years, I’ve stored items that once were part of my life but no longer are nor will be.  So why store them?  They just take up space and get in my way.  Some items cannot be thrown out in the garbage; they require special handling so they must be taken to a hazardous material recycling center.  Old pesticides, paint cans, and burned out fluorescent bulbs are examples.

All this got me to thinking about other things we might want to get rid of.  What might those be?

What if we could rid ourselves of grudges?  Grudges are persistent feelings of resentment resulting from past injuries or insults.  I think we all can remember times when somebody else did something that was very unpleasant for us.  Perhaps a bad driver cut you off and you came close to having an accident.  And, to top it off, they then had the nerve to flip you off!  Every time you think of it, you relive that anger. 

Or remember that classmate who started a rumor about you that was really embarrassing!  The rumor wasn’t true, of course, but everybody believed it.  You lost face and just wanted to run away. 

Incidents like this may be many years old now but they still bring us pain whenever we recall them. 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could take these old grudges and recycle them on Monday mornings with the rest of the garbage? 

Somebody once said that “forgiveness” means giving up all hope of a better past. Recalling these bad experiences will not change our past.  But forgiving the people who wronged us might allow us to let go of these memories and clean out our interior house.  How refreshing it would be to let all that negativity go.  It would open up some space and allow us to air ourselves out.  We would then have more room to focus on newer, positive things. 

I believe that we will lead happier lives if we can do this.

So make a list of your grudges, package them up in a pile and haul them out to the curb by 7:30 a.m. on Monday.  And after they are gone, don’t look back.

Cheers!

Kevin