A day to remember
On this Memorial Day, May 29, 2006, it is a time of reflection, a time of remembrance. To remember the people that fought for our great country and died, love ones that have perished and the generations that came before us. And while their memories are important and many opportunities lie around our country today to celebrate them, I thought it might be a better time to reflect on those living and how short our time is.
I once saw Dr. Phil speak at a convention and while I wasn’t overly impressed with him I did walk away with something he said I will never forget. “Those of us that carry anger are like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die”. I remember thinking how true that statement is. How many times I had been angry with someone in my lifetime, so angry that it haunted me, embraced my every move that eventually it paralyzed me. How people have carried hatred for each other, spending every penny on war or court battles only for someone to eventually to be crowned the winner. That even the “winners” had suffered. Whether it is war, divorce, family differences or simple misunderstandings, anger crept in and hardens us as individuals. It truly is like drinking poison and feeling so certain that the other person will die but instead the poison takes over and eventually it is you that loses.
After listening to Dr. Phil’s words I decided next time I was angry, really angry, I would stop and break down the situation. Really look into the core of why I was so angry, after all I knew my anger wasn’t going to produce anything positive. And I what I found amazed me. My anger was simply covering up my feelings of being hurt, those feelings of pain you hate admitting. The dark ones you hide in your closet. And through my identification of feelings and dealing with them I found I wasn’t angry anymore. I had somehow released the pain and allowed myself to move on, in turn, releasing my anger.
Life is short. It can be ripped from us in an instance, gone without a good-bye. Spending our time being angry is wasteful. The poison we drink will not kill the other person, simply destroy us. And when the time finally arrives that our anger subsides, perhaps it will be too late. We will have lost our chance for forgiveness.
So as we celebrate Memorial Day and remember our loved ones, let us also remember the ones that are still here. Put aside the anger, release your hurt feelings and learn to forgive. Perhaps if we do it will make today and our remaining days left a little brighter.
I once saw Dr. Phil speak at a convention and while I wasn’t overly impressed with him I did walk away with something he said I will never forget. “Those of us that carry anger are like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die”. I remember thinking how true that statement is. How many times I had been angry with someone in my lifetime, so angry that it haunted me, embraced my every move that eventually it paralyzed me. How people have carried hatred for each other, spending every penny on war or court battles only for someone to eventually to be crowned the winner. That even the “winners” had suffered. Whether it is war, divorce, family differences or simple misunderstandings, anger crept in and hardens us as individuals. It truly is like drinking poison and feeling so certain that the other person will die but instead the poison takes over and eventually it is you that loses.
After listening to Dr. Phil’s words I decided next time I was angry, really angry, I would stop and break down the situation. Really look into the core of why I was so angry, after all I knew my anger wasn’t going to produce anything positive. And I what I found amazed me. My anger was simply covering up my feelings of being hurt, those feelings of pain you hate admitting. The dark ones you hide in your closet. And through my identification of feelings and dealing with them I found I wasn’t angry anymore. I had somehow released the pain and allowed myself to move on, in turn, releasing my anger.
Life is short. It can be ripped from us in an instance, gone without a good-bye. Spending our time being angry is wasteful. The poison we drink will not kill the other person, simply destroy us. And when the time finally arrives that our anger subsides, perhaps it will be too late. We will have lost our chance for forgiveness.
So as we celebrate Memorial Day and remember our loved ones, let us also remember the ones that are still here. Put aside the anger, release your hurt feelings and learn to forgive. Perhaps if we do it will make today and our remaining days left a little brighter.
posted by Head Redhead at 9:00 AM
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