HOLDING A GRUDGE IS FOOLISHNESS

HOLDING A GRUDGE IS FOOLISHNESS

We could talk about grudges in the same way we talk about babies.
You can hold a grudge
You can carry a grudge
You can bear a grudge or
You can nurse a grudge
When you nurse something you feed it. As you keep going over what was done or said to you, you are nursing it. And just like a baby, when you nurse it you make it grow, and soon it becomes full grown.
So you see that it doesn't make any sense to carry a grudge. Why would you pick up something each day that weighs you down (like a full grown adult) and carry it around with you? 'But they hurt me,' you say. Yes they did, but by carrying a grudge you enable them to keep hurting you. Don't do that to yourself!
The story is told of a man on his sickbed who had been told by the doctor that he didn't have much time to live. He summoned an old friend named Mr. Brown with whom he had quarrelled bitterly. They hadn't spoken for years. The sick man told him of how he was going to die soon. They both saw how petty their differences looked in the face of death, and asked if they might be reconciled. Everyone in the room was moved to tears. Mr. Brown clasped the dying man's hands, embraced him and turned to walk out of the room, a shattered man.
Suddenly the man on the sickbed, having one final thought, raised himself up on one elbow and spoke for the last time: 'But see here, Brown; if I recover, the old grudge still stands.'
This story might make us laugh and think, 'How foolish!' But stop and consider; if you are carrying a grudge, are you any different?