On Life and Words

Sometimes in life, we come to a crossroads with people or situations. We are faced with the choice of either continuing to hold on or to try to let someone or something go. This is the first step in healing from trauma or abuse, and it can also just be something as simple as needing to clear your "emotional clutter" or remove complications from your life to be able to live your best life in as healthy a way as is possible. This might need to happen in a very direct and abrupt manner. You may need to make a conscious choice to get someone or something out of your life, choosing to go no-contact with an individual or choosing to drop a habit or something else. It can seem to come out of nowhere to the other person if it's an individual, they might even get angry with you for losing their access to you. In some cases, it's just a simple case of a friend or family member and yourself losing common ground and needing to go separate ways... there's nothing wrong with...

When it comes to past hurts and anger, it's very difficult to forgive and let it go. I think that many times, when we are struggling with trying to forgive someone else, we often are so caught up in our anger or hurt feelings that we then feel guilty for feeling angry or hurt, so we end up sabotaging our attempts at forgiving the other person. I think that sometimes too, when someone has hurt or offended us, sometimes their actions are a reaction to our own actions. And then, when we are struggling to forgive them for their offense, we can't do it unless we have acknowledged where we have wronged them as well. I don't know if true forgiveness is always possible. Sometimes the hurt or anger is so deep, it can seem impossible to let the offense go. But, if we are to love others and ourselves and to move past the hurt and anger, forgiveness is an important step. I am not suggesting that one should blindly forgive and forget. But forgiveness is a big part of moving forward...

So, recently, I've gotten back in touch with friends I haven't spoken to in months, in some cases, even years. It's been an interesting few months around here. There are those friendships that last through anything and then end abruptly, there are those that don't last a season, there are friendships that remain the same forever and then some are the same even when you aren't in contact regularly. How many of you out there have friends whom you have known for years, that you may not talk to regularly, a lot of time can pass by, but the friendship hasn't changed when you do get back in touch? For myself, this has been the case with a few of my closest friendships. And those are the people I know I can trust 100%, no matter what. I think it's always a good idea to stay in touch at least somewhat regularly with close friends, to at least keep up with one another's contact information, should something happen. But close friendships can sometimes be bett...