mind, just as they were in the past. They must have patience and
understanding with them, but not allow themselves to be dragged
down by their influence.
And what is resentment?
Resentment is a long-term drawn out hatred, of delayed effect,
generally focused towards some person who opposed us or harmed
us, who is to blame or is responsible for all our ills. The episode or
episodes which aroused the aggressiveness could have happened a
long time ago, but resentful people keep this act in their memory and
use it to feed their aggressive impulse, waiting for an occasion to get
even, believing that this way they will be able to alleviate their malaise.
Where can resentment come from?
From the dissatisfaction of not having lived according to how we feel,
from not having done something that we wanted to do, from not
coming to terms with a difficult circumstance that we have had to live
through, or from having allowed ourselves to be dragged down by our
defects (fear, ease, lack of will, lack of understanding, carelessness
etc.). In general, resentment is normally wrongly directed towards the
people who have contributed to or collaborated in our not having
lived according to how we feel, towards those who have placed
obstacles to our carrying out something that we wanted to do or
against those whom we consider responsible for the difficult
circumstances that we have been forced to live through.
And how can this be overcome?
Instead of looking for external sources to blame, let us try to be
conscious of where our inner malaise comes from and have the
courage to modify what we do not like in our lives, in spite of the fact
that this may cause us additional problems. Let us try to understand
that certain negative circumstances, that appear to be a fateful
misfortune, are sometimes tests chosen by ourselves to overcome our
defects, and to increase our capacity to love unconditionally.
Now I raise again one of the questions that I asked you previously. If
we express feelings such as hatred, fury, anger or resentment, we can
harm others. But if we keep them inside us we harm ourselves. So what
should we do with them?
Pull them up by the roots. Try to work so that they are not aroused
internally. Be aware that aggressiveness does not come from the
outside, but rather from the inside, that it is aroused because it is within
us, that it is one more manifestation of our egoism. If it is aroused