四級晨讀主題美文100篇 30

Be the First One to Act Loving or Reaching out

Many of us hold on|to ‵little resentments, which ‵stem from|an argument, a ‵misunderstanding, or some other ‵painful event.

Stubbornly, we wait for someone ‵else|to reach out to us — believing this is|the ‵only way we can forgive|or rekindle a friendship|or family relationship. An ‵acquaintance of mine, whose health| ‵isn’t very good, ‵recently told me|that she ‵hasn’t spoken to her son|in almost ‵three years. “Why not?” I asked. She said|that she and her son had had a ‵disagreement|about his wife|and that she wouldn’t speak to him ‵again|unless he called ‵first. When I suggested|that she be the one to ‵reach out, she ‵resisted initially and said, “I ‵can’t do that. He’s the one|who ‵should apologize.” She was literally ‵willing to die|before ‵reaching out to her ‵only son. After a ‵little gentle encouragement, however, she ‵did decide to be the first one|to reach out. To her ‵amazement, her son was ‵grateful for her willingness to call|and offered an ‵apology of his own. As is ‵usually the case|when someone takes the chance|and reaches out, ‵everyone wins. Whenever we hold on to our anger, we turn “‵small stuff”|into really “‵big stuff”|in our minds. We start to believe|that our positions are ‵more important|than our happiness. They are ‵not. If you want to be a more ‵peaceful person|you ‵must understand that|being ‵right is|almost ‵never more important|than allowing yourself to be happy. The way to be ‵happy is|to let go, and ‵reach out. Let ‵other people be right. This doesn’t mean|that you’re ‵wrong. ‵Everything will be fine. You’ll experience the ‵peace of letting go, as well as the ‵joy of letting others be right. You’ll ‵also notice that, as you ‵reach out|and let others be “right”, they ‵will become ‵less defensive|and ‵more loving toward you. They might ‵even reach back. But, if for some reason|they ‵don’t, that’s okay too. You will have the ‵inner satisfaction|of knowing that you have done your part|to create a ‵more loving world, and ‵certainly|you’ll be ‵more peaceful yourself.