Time heals all wounds, right? Well, not exactly. It's one of those aphorisms that doesn't quite ring true for everyone. Some people are still bearing the pain of trauma or loss from many years ago, and while the pain may lessen over time, it will persist.
But time does help put many smaller injustices or issues to rest. I was so upset the other day about... wait, you know what?! I don't even remember. Because so often what can really bother me on a Wednesday afternoon is not even on my mind by Friday morning... a pimple, a broken fingernail, a curt email, a hurt feeling, being overcharged, not getting something I was promised, a faulty refrigerator, and so on. Both big things and small seem to fade in importance as time passes.
I remember one time my husband came in from the rain, shouting about an urgent problem with our roof. We didn't have the money at the time to replace the roof, and we were immediately panicking about the predicament we were in. We thought about how we could borrow money quickly, considered options to just repair the damage, checked how much it was going to rain, and so on. It consumed us for a day or two. And then a few days after that, all that stress was forgotten. It turned out the problem wasn't as bad as he thought. It was about a $12 fix, and we had spent a lot of time worrying for naught. Our roof was fine for a few more years.
How many times have you completely obsessed over something that a few days later (sometimes even just a few hours or a few minutes later) doesn't even register in your consciousness anymore? Often getting that frustrated just isn't worth the energy, and instead you need to just wait. Almost everything looks better after a good night's sleep. Allowing time to pass can also help you cool off before you say or do something you later regret. Get an email that really bothers you? Rather than shooting off a response, wait a few hours - or a few days, if possible. You'll have a better sense of perspective and you will have cooled down some.
The next time you're feeling really intense negative emotions, remember to let time pass.
Photo by Patrik Linderstam on Unsplash