TO BEAR, TO HOLD, TO HARBOR

There’s a memorable line in the movie The Little Mermaid, uttered in self-deprecation by the character Sebastian the Crab. When asked who was responsible for the chaos that surrounded him, Sebastian responded pitifully “I blame myself.”

Sebastian has something there. So many of the instances of disagreement, disorder, and yes, chaos in our own lives can be traced to our admission “I blame myself.”

I’m thinking specifically of the three areas of ill will, grudges, and resentment. Our own lexicon of word usage points the pincer of blame right back at ourselves in absolute Sebastian-like fashion.

We bear ill will.

We hold grudges.

We harbor resentment.

We are the cause of the lasting disorder when we bear ill will.

We are the reason for perpetuating the disagreement when we hold a grudge.

And yes, we are the root of the chaos when we harbor resentment.

We can invert the situation to see how quickly the negative can become positive.

Drop the ill will... stop the lasting disorder.

Let go of the grudge... end the disagreement.

Nip the resentment, kill the chaos.

Perhaps a visual image of Sebastian can be brought to mind each time we even think about the silliness of bearing ill will, holding a grudge, or harboring resentment. Why would we expend energy by making a choice that not only brings on negativity, but perpetuates it?

More importantly, how many relationships can we save by invoking Sebastian’s lesson?

Imagine...

learning the silliness of being crabby...

from a crab!