Yesterday I wrote about downsizing of possessions. No doubt about it, that's hard. Even harder, though, is the downsizing of harmful feelings. You know the ones I mean: jealousy, envy, anger. These tend to result in grudges and even harder and more harmful feelings. I call these "the nasties."
I don't know about you, but for me, it's a lot easier to get rid of a dress that I no longer wear than to rid myself of the yucky feelings that creep into my mind and heart. Once there, they tend to fester and cling and, pretty soon, they take on a life of their own. They've morphed from a tiny, niggling hurt to a full-blown tumor of pain.
There's only one way I know of to vanquish these feelings: turn them--and myself--over to the Savior. Only when I do that, am I able to erase them from my heart.
So, for today, I am grateful for the Savior, Who's always willing to help me downsize the nasties.
Just like downsizing possessions, I have found that downsizing "the nasties" takes "want to". I have to want to get rid of the stuff in my closet that's completely useless and clogging up my life. Why don't I always want to? It's an ugly business of mess, admitting growth in unwanted areas, unwanted shrinking in others, mistakes, poor judgements, and unexpected revelations of personal weakness. Actually, that sounds a lot like getting rid of "the nasties". The thing is, until I do that work, that stuff is still there, clogging up my life and preventing me from getting to what I really want. I always feel better after I've done the work, but sometimes I'm a coward at getting started.
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