VENGEANCE....3/12/23

Donald Trump is well known for holding grudges and rarely forgets anyone who he feels stepped on him. At a speech last week he said, “Today, I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution." Imagine four years of nothing but retribution and the settling of scores. We could be in for one helluva roller coaster of a ride if he's re-elected.

I myself have vengeful tendencies that can rise to the surface unchecked as did my somewhat tongue-in-cheek musings here yesterday in discussing what ought to happen to Fox News for lying to its audience. Actually I think that vengeance lurks in all of us to some degree.

But is it healthy? Behavioral scientists say that revenge stimulates that part of our brain that processes reward but yet that reward is seldom realized. Instead it tends to extend our bitterness while continuing to torment us. It's a vicious cycle.

So how do we get a handle on these impulses? Obviously Trump has never learned how to deal with his insecurities but that doesn't mean we can't. Counseling helps. Sitting on those feelings can be beneficial until they begin to dissipate. But I think the best approach is to regard that animosity as a waste of time and that in the bigger scheme of things, hating on someone or something is a nothing burger that will only tear us apart internally.

The late great folksinger, Tom Dundee says it best in his beloved song "Delicate Balance". "To worry does nothing but steals from the loving and robs from the pleasure that's there."