The Journey Inward

Let go of the hurt.
Let go of the anger.
Also, let go of the people who habitually
bring them into your life.
You are your own peacekeeper.  ~Dodinsky

As a child, anger was not a normalized emotion in my house.  My father had a short temper (never at us), but my mother hummed around as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary.  This was very confusing to me as I could clearly hear him cursing and yelling and yet we pretended we didn't.  My parents never raised their voices at us.  We were never grounded.  Instead, when I did something wrong, I was interrogated.  What was I thinking?  Why would I do that?  Did I not consider the consequences? And on and on.

As a child, I felt anger, but didn't know what to do with it.  I knew for sure that it wasn't to be expressed.  And so I began many decades of  turning my mad inward on myself, being passive aggressive or choosing a different emotion that was more acceptable.  These were followed by shame and self criticism.

My favorite part of the gentle reminder is the last line...
"You are your own peacekeeper."
That is a job I take seriously.
No one can disrupt my peace
without my permission.

Each day this month, I am reading and writing about an entry from gentle reminders:  SIMPLE TRUTHS FOR A MEANINGFUL LIFE by Dodinsky.  This book was given to me after my divorce by a friend, with this inscription: "Let your soul sparkle."  

Photo:  Atlanta, GA.  11.8.24 by LA