A germ is a tiny thing, but it can divide and become two germs, then four.

Four becomes eight and after only 28 more cycles you find yourself handcuffed in the sad darkness of more than one billion germs.

One billion, seventy-three million, seven hundred and forty-one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-four germs, to be exact.

And they are all trying to kill you.

Unlike the more beautiful forms of life, germs carry only one set of chromosomes instead of two. They reproduce by dividing into two cells, a process called binary fission.

It began as a tiny cut. But every time you open that wound, you increase the pain of it.

This is why it is dangerous to nurse a grudge. When we remember painful moments, we increase their strength.

Did you know that most of what we remember never really happened? At least not the way we remember it.

When we remember something that happened, we do not recall the event objectively. None of us do. We reconstruct the event according to how it made us feel the last time we thought about it. We remember only the memory of our memory.

The memories you carry in your mind are distorted reconstructions, at best. But the assumptions you made – especially the motives and intentions you ascribed to other people – quickly crystallize into “indisputable facts” in your mind.

That last statement bears repeating: the motives and intentions you ascribe to other people quickly crystallize into “indisputable facts” in your mind.

Therein lies a great danger. When you nurse a grudge, you distort reality by crystallizing emotional impressions into “hard facts” that you believe with all your heart. And the more often you revisit that pain, the tighter your handcuffs and the deeper your darkness.

We’ve heard it before, but it is good for us to hear it again:

“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

Every person deserves to be remembered for their best moment.

Take that thought with you into the new year. When you remember a person, search the secret corners of your mind for an event, a moment, something that person said, or did, that makes you smile a little. Replace your dark, sad memory with one that is happy and light.

Don’t do it for them. Do it for you.

Have a happy new year.

Roy H. Williams

Side Hustles, Online Retailing, Military Contracts, Bras, Walt Disney, Firefighters, Business Exit Strategies, and Worms. Those were 8 of the Top 10 Episodes for MondayMorningRadio in 2023. This week, roving reporter Rotbart – with brilliant co-host and son, Maxwell – revisit the highlights of 2023 and share an audio preview of their new book, a Monday Morning Radio anthology offering insights from 25 of the most interesting guests in the history of the show. The book won’t be released until March, but you can begin profiting from its compiled wisdom the moment you arrive at MondayMorningRadio.com