understanding those who hurt you

those who threaten the status quo
 have always been eliminated.

So from time to time I think of those who hurt me in this life.  I don't allow myself to dwell on the situations.  I don't relive the pain.  What I do is think of why they did what they did.  Why they felt the need to say those things and behave like that.

In every situation, whether it was my mother, a parishioner or a staff person, there is a universal thought that they shared.  They were protecting something that was important to them, and in their mind, I was a threat to that thing they were protecting.

My mother was protecting her idea of a perfect child.   My mother was protecting her self image.  Too bad that she thought she was defined by the actions of her children.  the few staff people that hurt me were usually protecting or defending their egos or their sense of power and control.  Parishioners were almost always defending their understanding of the orthodox faith.  I was a threat to their ideas about faith, a heretic to be burned at the stake.

The point of this post is this.... if I can understand the actions of those who delivered hurt to me, it takes away some of the pain.  They were actually trying to do something that was important to them, even religious.  Hurting me was an unfortunate byproduct.  When I understand the actions of others, it takes away the sting of how their behavior hurt me.

Life is too short to dwell on the hurt.  Understand that those folks that hurt you are probably protecting themselves in some way.  Release them from your resentment.  You will be glad that you did.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.