What do you nurture?

What we water, grows. Think about it. What are you watering and nurturing?

There have been times in my life (and, no doubt, will be again) when I've nurtured and watered resentment and anger. Someone has hurt me deeply. And I want to feel justified in that anger and sink into self-pity and self-righteousness for a while. So I think about the situation and my hurt a lot. I might even tell someone else so I get validated for my feelings. I hold a big pity-party. And where does it get me? Only deeper and deeper into anger and resentment. It gets me nowhere good—nowhere that I really want to dwell for any length of time.

Most likely, it also ripples out to others so they feel the toxicity of my anger and resentment.

I'm human. You're human. So this is going to happen from time to time.

What I am trying to do instead these days, and what I invite you to do, is to be aware of this tendency. By doing so, perhaps we can catch ourselves early in the process and stop watering those negative attitudes. Perhaps we can show ourselves compassion—and also show compassion to those who hurt us. When someone hurts me, I might be better off if I ask, "What does this soul need?" As we know, hurting people hurt others. And most often, when someone lashes out at us, it's more about that person than about us. They need compassion. So do we.

So, what are you watering today?