“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” —Carrie Fisher

There are always going to be people who trigger feelings of anger and resentment within you. It’s not that you have the initial feelings, but what you do with those feelings that will affect your ongoing physical and emotional health. Learning to be able to experience the feelings and then let them go as opposed to holding onto them and revisiting them over and over is a powerful lesson.

If you are having a hard time letting go, a good question to ask yourself is “why does this bother ME so much.” Yes, perhaps that person’s actions are truly reprehensible. However, what specifically causes a problem for you?

Is it that you would really want their situation for yourself?
Does it go against one of your core values?
Does it highlight how unfair your own life feels?

Once you can see what it is triggering in you, then you can focus your efforts on your own issue. It is 100 times easier to deal with your own issue than someone else’s behavior. Does it make the situation any better? Is it condoning that person’s behavior? No. However, the goal is to keep other’s actions from affecting your own emotional or physical health.
