As a massage therapist in a hospital, Irene was assigned to give physical therapy to a cancer patient who, according to the doctors’ prognosis, had but a short time to live. While Irene was treating Mrs. Harmon, she asked the elderly woman about the pain in her life. “My greatest sorrow is that I have not spoken to my sister in 20 years, ” lamented Mrs. Harmon. When Irene encouraged the woman to talk about her long-held resentment, Mrs. Harmon burst into tears, reporting how hard it had been to hold a grudge against her sister, whom she truly loved. The two women embraced, and Mrs. Harmon reported that she felt relieved.
The following week when Irene returned to the hospital, she was surprised to find Mrs. Harmon dressed, wearing makeup, and looking significantly healthier. “Where are you going? ” asked Irene.
“Home, darling,” Mrs. Harmon answered. “When they took me in for x-rays, they found no sign of cancer. ”
When we hold on to anger, hurt, or resentment, we only hurt ourselves. By withholding love from another, we deny it to ourselves. If you keep someone in prison with your thoughts, you have to sit at their jail door to keep them from escaping, and thus become a prisoner yourself.
To free another is to free yourself. When you give the gift of release, your spirit is healed.
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