Some things happened…
Some things should never have happened.
The question isn’t whether you were hurt.
The question is…
Must you continue carrying it?
HOLDING ON TO SOMETHING?
Part 1
There are moments in life that wound us so deeply they seem to become part of us.
Words spoken.
Trust broken.
Promises abandoned.
Trauma.
Loss.
Betrayal.
Abuse.
The mind quietly stores them away…
Yet somehow they continue visiting us.
Why?
Perhaps not to torture us…
But to invite us toward freedom.
FORGIVENESS
If you truly forgive someone…
For whatever took place…
Or didn’t take place…
Something remarkable begins happening.
The incident gradually loses its grip.
It no longer controls your emotions.
Its power weakens.
Eventually…
It becomes part of your history…
Instead of your present.
Do not argue this point.
Simply let it speak to you.
Pure forgiveness naturally hands the event over to forgetfulness.
Not because memory has failed…
But because healing has succeeded.
There may still be crumbs.
Small remnants.
Tiny reminders.
Life has a wonderful way of sweeping those away…
On clean-up day.
IF YOU PERSIST…
(HOLDING ON)
Sometimes we simply do not know the whole story.
Pain encourages quick conclusions.
Truth often requires patient exploration.
People rush to judgment because judgment feels easier than understanding.
Go deeper.
Allow the incident to be fully exposed to the light of reality.
Many people proudly declare,
“I’ll forgive…
But I’ll never forget.”
Listen carefully.
There is still unfinished business hiding inside those words.
WORTHY NOTE
You already possess the pain.
Now go toward it…
Through it…
And beyond it.
The Promised Land has always been found on the other side of honest healing.
THE ARGUMENT
Those who insist on holding tightly to resentment…
Are often protecting something they have not yet understood.
Their truth remains exactly as they experienced it.
Their pain is real.
No one is denying that.
But there comes a moment…
When another invitation quietly appears.
Truth.
Not merely about what happened.
But about what can happen now.
Universal law seems to whisper:
Whatever you continually argue…
You eventually keep.
TIME IS YOUR PAL
Healing understands time.
Your body demonstrates this beautifully.
When injured…
Recovery quietly begins.
Bones mend.
Skin repairs.
Strength slowly returns.
Imagine interfering with every stage of healing.
Picking at the wound.
Opening it daily.
Refusing recovery.
The body cannot fully heal under those conditions.
Neither can the soul.
DENY THE PAST
ANY PRIVILEGES IN THE PRESENT
If you are not fully here…
Then where are you?
If your mind continually lives yesterday…
Who is living today?
Your present moment was given to you.
Do not surrender it to yesterday’s pain.
If the past repeatedly enters your present…
Ask a different question.
What is it trying to show me?
Not…
How can I keep reliving it?
RESENTMENT
The Latin roots of resentment suggest something fascinating.
To re-feel.
To feel again.
To live it twice.
That explains much.
Every replay offers an opportunity.
Not merely to suffer again…
But eventually…
To understand differently.
WORTHY NOTE
Fight or flight helps us survive.
It was never meant to become our permanent address.
WHY THE REPLAY?
Painful memories often return…
Not because life enjoys tormenting us.
But because something still seeks completion.
Understanding.
Truth.
Healing.
Freedom.
Reality has tremendous healing power.
Truth carries light.
When enough light enters…
Darkness naturally loses its place.
HOW DO WE BRING IT
INTO THE NOW?
Childhood wounds…
Adult betrayals…
Violence…
Abandonment…
Whatever happened…
Must eventually be brought into the light.
Not to relive forever.
But to understand correctly.
No…
You probably did not deserve what happened.
Some people truly were predators.
Some situations were profoundly unfair.
Some injuries should never have occurred.
None of that changes the invitation.
Go toward the truth.
Find your part…
Or discover you had none.
Either discovery becomes liberating.
Truth never asks us to excuse evil.
Truth asks us to stop allowing evil…
To continue ruling our lives.
FINAL THOUGHT
Holding on feels like protection.
Until one day…
You discover…
The prison door was unlocked all along.
Freedom begins…
When truth becomes more valuable…
Than the pain.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
Been expecting you