I recently have had a couple of conversations about people burning their bridges. It's made me think and wonder...have I burnt my bridges with anyone? When and why? How?
I can actually think of a couple of people who might say that I had done just that. An early employer that I let down badly when I was young and foolish...a "friend" or two whose loss are not a particular tragedy. Maybe some others. All of the instances I could think of occurred well before I hit 30 years of age, most in my early 20s or teens.
I can think of a couple of times when I had the opportunity to burn bridges and cause ill will since I have turned 30. Each time I decided it was not worth the negative energy and bad karma. I took the time and made an effort to mend the rift and leave the relationship on congenial terms.
I tried to think of people who had burned all of their bridges with me, maybe I am just too much of a sap...there are a few, very few and I guess it depends on how you define it too. I can't think of anyone whom I couldn't either be polite to or just ignore if the need arose (as long as they returned the courtesy of either being polite back or ignoring me altogether). There is a small group of people who I can honestly say I would never trust and would never shed any tears over, but I don't actively wish them ill.
It's never been a secret that my own mother is one of the people who falls into category of people I would never trust and do not miss having as an active part of my life. There was a point at wish I may have even wished her ill (who am I trying to kid, I know there was), but time has passed and while there is no regret, there are no longer hard feelings on my side, just a resigned knowledge that this is the way things are and will always be.
Maybe anyone under a certain age should be given a free pass, so that their bridges remain in tact until they have reached the age of understanding and can make the choice from a point of experience and understanding to burn a bridge or try to mend it?
I can actually think of a couple of people who might say that I had done just that. An early employer that I let down badly when I was young and foolish...a "friend" or two whose loss are not a particular tragedy. Maybe some others. All of the instances I could think of occurred well before I hit 30 years of age, most in my early 20s or teens.
I can think of a couple of times when I had the opportunity to burn bridges and cause ill will since I have turned 30. Each time I decided it was not worth the negative energy and bad karma. I took the time and made an effort to mend the rift and leave the relationship on congenial terms.
I tried to think of people who had burned all of their bridges with me, maybe I am just too much of a sap...there are a few, very few and I guess it depends on how you define it too. I can't think of anyone whom I couldn't either be polite to or just ignore if the need arose (as long as they returned the courtesy of either being polite back or ignoring me altogether). There is a small group of people who I can honestly say I would never trust and would never shed any tears over, but I don't actively wish them ill.
It's never been a secret that my own mother is one of the people who falls into category of people I would never trust and do not miss having as an active part of my life. There was a point at wish I may have even wished her ill (who am I trying to kid, I know there was), but time has passed and while there is no regret, there are no longer hard feelings on my side, just a resigned knowledge that this is the way things are and will always be.
Maybe anyone under a certain age should be given a free pass, so that their bridges remain in tact until they have reached the age of understanding and can make the choice from a point of experience and understanding to burn a bridge or try to mend it?
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