Pg. 66 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous uses this phrase about resentments, but it always seems to me that this could be used for any of the difficulties we face. I have a friend who lost his father a few years ago. He is angry. He is mad. He is resentful.
This quote says, “It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worthwhile? But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.”
Substitute any issue, a life which includes deep (anger, attitude, frustration, fears, poor relationships, sadness, negative feelings about yourself) and you “squander the hours that might have been worthwhile, and we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit.”
Identify the negative feelings confronting you, work to understand what is causing these, get help to discover new ways to deal with them, and quit squandering the hours of your life that might have been filled with joy and happiness. Live in the sunlight of God’s Spirit. Rejoice, it’s your life and we only get one.