Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Only that action is just which does not harm either party to a dispute. — Mahatma Gandhi
We may find ourselves engaged in a dispute and determined at all costs to impose our solution, even though we know it may harm our opponent. We don’t really want a solution at all; we want revenge.
The desire to harm others may derive from feeling that we have been hurt, as children perhaps. We may have been neglected and misunderstood, or even abused and assaulted. So the world owes us something and we mean to collect. We may even bear grudges against successful people, not because they have done us wrong, but merely because they are successful.
We need to let our shame and sorrow out into the clear light of day. By opening ourselves up to others, we will surely find that we can defuse our anger and our desire to hurt others. We can stand on an equal footing with others and have no more need for resentment and revenge.
I know that I am gradually getting rid of the secret shame that causes me to act out of anger and vindictiveness.
Hazelden Foundation
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