One way to lessen the pain

[notinKansasanymore]

I had posted this on our 9th Corps thread, but Tom Strange (so it's his fault? :) ) suggested that I put it here. So, here it is.

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At the risk of being too serious, I found this quote on a website, and thought that it reminded me of the way I used to feel regarding "our former denomination." In case it might come in handy to anybody, here it is:

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."--- James Arthur Baldwin

Oddly, I found that in the cases where I've been able to let go of some of the hard feelings (toward TWI or just anybody who's cheated or wronged me), the extent to which I've been able to let go of that ill will has been directly proportional to the extent that the pain has lessened.

At least, it usually works. Sometimes the whole scenario has to "age" a little. We were discussing the fact that it's been 25 years since we graduated from the Corps. The feeling of being cheated by TWI gradually recedes to the category of "lesson learned, back when I was a baby."

I would imagine that for some of the lurkers, it's still so recent as to be an open wound. It's to them that I raise my coffee cup of encouragement this morning.

love, niKa

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[excathedra]

you are a peach, nikie

i also hope the pain lessens for those who feel it so fresh and new

it does get better with time even though sometimes it hits you like a ton of bricks when you're not looking

i'm talking about the way as well as life

mwah

[ex10]

Dear nika

I understand the sentiment totally. Seeing as how, it's been 24 yrs since corps graduation and my marriage to my dearly beloved, as well. I've now been married to him over half my life. Egads, how did that happen?

But at least I didn't spend my teens and 20's doing drugs or frittering my time away in nothingness. I understand some may feel that way. But for moi, at least I had a cause that I believed in, that I sacrificed for. Maybe it was a worthless cause, in the eyes of many, but it taught me many lessons, which I am sure to pass on to the next generation of my family.

And I can't complain about the life I've built with someone who has the same ethics and values. And WE SURVIVED! And are much older and wiser for it.

Edited July 24, 2006 by ex10