Blogging = Therapy

The ability to overlook or move on after someone has said or done something hurtful toward me is something I continually work on. If it was unintentional, I can get past it fairly easily but when it's a blatant slam, so to speak, I have a very difficult time rallying myself to move on.

We all know the Golden Rule ~ treat others how you'd want to be treated. Why is this so difficult? Most things I can easily forgive or put aside, but every once in awhile, something happens that pierces me. I wish I could allow everything to roll off my back, but I experience occasionally what I've come to refer to as "moments of incredulity." These moments come when I am flabbergasted, blown away, floored ~ however you want to phrase it ~ by the actions of another.

People, for the most part, make errors that are unintentional. I know I've definitely put my foot in my mouth many times. When I realize this though, I try to quickly make amends and take responsibility, even though it might have been accidental. Accidental comments/actions still hurt. More obvious actions/comments hurt more. They feel deflating to my spirit.

Our wise bishop encouraged us recently at church to "give up the little hurts." I've tried to do this and was doing pretty well until last week, when an incident occurred that truly hurt me. Since last week, I've been in a "state of incredulity," way more than a moment. By things that have been said since then, I am obviously more bothered by this than the other party. At this point, it's only hurting me. While I realize the implications of holding onto hurts, I can't seem to force it out of my mind either.

How do you treat others as Jesus would while not allowing yourself to feel used or taken advantage of? Part of me says, "retreat," while another part urges me to push forward and brush things off. I know which one I'll do ~ I just wish I didn't have such a hard time doing it.