We have considered the seeds of grudges this week.
What does grudge-holding do to our health?
Cycling through inevitable grudges frequently, removing the seeds often through prayer and restoring strained relationships is healthy and necessary. This work may actually strengthen our health like occasional illness--our bodies meet opposition and overcome it, leaving us with new tools to fight.
This power of cumulative--repeated action of resolving grudges--works in our favor.
However, it can dismantle our health just as easily. Grudges held over time create stress in our body as our minds and hearts replay the hard feelings frequently. We "learn" this pathway to dealing with grudges so new hard feelings in new relationships and encounters simply get added and the stress on our bodies is compounded.
We awaken in our forties, fifties and beyond and wonder why we can't fight pain and the negatives of aging with the same strength we once had.
We gave it away...our strength, that is. We gave it to the garden of grudges that is now growing unchecked in our hearts.
How does your garden grow?
