Deal or No Deal?

You know that person...who you're not so crazy about? who... is not really in your life anymore but still just frustrates you or annoys you to think about? who... you have a problem with or who has a problem with you? If any of this even sounds vaguely familiar, just go with me here. Why is there still a problem? It seems like we tend to ignore a lot of our problems and issues with people until all of our feelings start bubbling over, and we finally explode on someone. Oops. Luckily, there's a solution.

Deal with your problems. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is just nothing - letting the problem sit there and build, whether you know it is or not. Your issues don't go away because you forget about them. They may seem gone for awhile, but somehow they'll show up again. Bitterness and pain don't do well being held inside. It may be scary or frustrating or difficult, but you have to confront your problems and the person(s) involved. And I don't mean whip out your lightsabers and duel it out. But you can't ignore an elephant in the room -- that elephant might start out as a baby, but it'll grow into a giant momma elephant, and you're going to have to acknowledge that thing at some point!

Well, you get what I'm saying, right? Don't run away from your problems. And don't let them sit there in the closet and become a skeleton, either. Confront that person(s) you might already be thinking of. And then forgive. Forgive and love. Is it hard? You betcha. But here's some encouragement: Growth comes from actually enduring pain and suffering and those difficult times. So don't cheat yourself out of the process.