In order to free myself from the ghost of yesterday’s angry incident, I have to clean up my side of the street.  Today I decided that I will write a letter  to my cousin’s husband.  My goal is to stomp on this bug while it’s small so it doesn’t get the opportunity to grow and turn into a much uglier monster.

An incident like this can poison the air at family gatherings for years to come.  I don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable the next time we get together and I want to be free from negativity so I have to take responsibility for my part.  Granted, in my opinion, my cousin’s husband played a part in what happened, but that is not the point.  If I am to be truly free, the only one I can really control is myself.   By letting go of this anger and clearing the air, I free my spirit and make room for other more positive things. If my cousin’s husband decides to hold on to it, then that’s a burden he will carry, not me.   Resentments are the poison we take hoping someone else will die.  It is said that the forgiving state of mind is a magnetic power for attracting good.

My family has enough challenges and we can’t afford another rip in the fabric.   Besides… I really don’t want conflict – it’s just not worth the sleepless nights!

In case you were wondering the gist of the letter goes like this…
“We may not agree on politics, but I am sure we can find many more areas where we both see eye to eye.  For instance, I am sure that we can both agree that we have shared far more numerous good memories than bad while together as a family….With that in mind, I hope that you can accept my sincere apology and desire to put this behind us with no hard feelings…”

The letter goes out tomorrow.  I’ll keep you posted on what happens.