We can be bitter or better but not both

I hope you all are having a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. I heard this great quote last week that stayed with me.  I love the simplicity of the statement and the powerful truth behind it. This message became our practice for the week. 

“You can be bitter or you can be better but you can’t be both.” 

We know this to be true in our bodies. When we are bitter towards our bodies whether it’s a nagging injury or a body part we wish were different or those extra couple pounds we can’t seem to drop, that frustration and bitterness gets us nowhere. What we resist resists right back and what we can meet with compassion and acceptance offers us the same.

I shared with students (and I know I have mentioned here) that when I relocated last summer I brought with me a nagging hamstring injury. I didn’t have the bandwidth to offer it the attention, love and care it needed to heal… instead I found myself frustrated and angry when I got on my mat that it wasn’t getting better. Once I settled in here in Florida a bit I finally gave it some loving care and some physical therapy and it got better. Bitter or Better but NOT BOTH. 

In our lives it works the same way. When we hold on to anger, judgment, hate, frustration and fear, these emotions hold us back from living as our most authentic selves…. hold us back from being BETTER. To be clear, there can be a misunderstanding when we explore mindfulness around difficult emotions. The goal is to hold these negative emotions more lightly so they don’t cloud our thoughts and actions. It’s not about blindly forgiving and forgetting but instead using the experiences to teach us what we need to do for ourselves to be better. When we let go of bitter, we have the chance to be better, everyday. It’s a gift we give ourselves, the gift of mindfulness.