Yesterday, I shared how my boyfriend’s dad uses an effective strategy to reduce the stress of minor annoyances, like the morning bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats that never quite makes it to the sink.
His strategy is as simple (and complex) as this:
Let it go.
A situation will come up that just begs for an “I told you so,” and instead of getting into a huff, he says “LIG.”
After successfully using this motto for a year, he wasn’t fully satisfied. He realized that while we choose to let the frustration go in the moment, we may still hold onto the negative emotions, and storing up our feelings is arguably worse than getting them out in the first place.
So he amended the motto.
Let it go… without residual resentment.
Woah.
Residual resentment is the product of dismissing issues without releasing or working through them. You say “no big deal,” when in fact, to you, it was a big deal.
This is directly in conflict with the goal of LIG: to minimize the impact and stress of life’s potential irritations. Instead of bypassing the negativity, residual resentment makes you hold it even closer.
LIG only works if you’re willing to say I can and will let this go.
Saying the words is a good start, but to get the true benefit, you have to make a bigger shift within yourself. You have to believe in the merit of letting go.
LIG isn’t meant for every situation. Only you can make the call on when to use it.
But when you do, you must use it with its full intention. Otherwise, you cause more harm than good.
To being better without residual resentment,
Elizabeth