Understanding and Loving a Person with Bipolar Disorder

forgiveness is for your benefit because it releases you from having to manage the debt of the offense

Letting go means that you are able to extricate yourself from an emotionally difficult situation—especially one in which you are so invested in finding the remedy! If you are experiencing tension, a feeling of constriction, this is a sign that you need to experience release. That’s easy to say and harder to do, but with practice, you will recognize when you need to let go of the control you are mindlessly exerting. When you recognize this tension—maybe if you are in a conversation with your loved one and they are not hearing you—and you sense the frustration rising in you, take a step back instead of reacting. In fire emergencies, we teach children to stop, drop, and roll. You can practice something similar for letting go: Stop the struggle, Drop the issue, and Roll away from the tension. You don’t have to settle every score, and there may come a better time to address the issue if it is truly something that needs to be settled. We often get entangled with emotional webs that are not life-and-death issues. Letting go is recognizing when your need to control is controlling you and choosing to release control.

We cannot give what we do not possess, and self-care helps us as we are helping others

cannot give what we do not possess, and self-care helps us as we are helping others