The grudge you hold for ten years costs you ten years. Ask yourself if it’s worth the price.

Ten years of resentment is ten years of your own life spent on someone who may not even know. That is the strange arithmetic of staying angry: the other person moves on while you keep the appointment, every time you tell the story again. The injury may have been real and the anger earned. The length of the sentence is still something you renew.

Try naming a number. Ask how long you intend to carry one particular grudge, and whether that stretch of your life is a fair price. If you are not ready to put it down, let it at least be a decision rather than a default.