The Wrong Solution

A story tells of a merchant in a small town who had
identical twin sons. The boys worked for their father in the department store
he owned and, when he died, they took over the store. Everything went well
until the day a dollar bill disappeared. One of the brothers had left the bill
on the cash register and walked outside with a customer. When he returned, the
money was gone. He asked his brother, “Did you see that dollar bill on the
cash register?” His brother replied that he had not. But the young man kept
probing and questioning. He would not let it alone. “Dollar bills just
don’t get up and walk away! Surely you must have seen it!” There was
subtle accusation in his voice. Tempers began to rise. Resentment set in.
Before long, a deep and bitter chasm divided the young men. They refused to
speak. They finally decided they could no longer work together and a dividing
wall was built down the center of the store. For twenty years hostility and
bitterness grew, spreading to their families and to the community.

Then one day a man in an automobile licensed in another
state stopped in front of the store. He walked in and asked the clerk,
“How long have you been here?” The clerk replied that he’d been there
all his life. The customer said, “I must share something with you. Twenty
years ago I was ‘riding the rails’ and came into this town in a boxcar. I
hadn’t eaten for three days. I came into this store from the back door and saw
a dollar bill on the cash register. I put it in my pocket and walked out. All
these years I haven’t been able to forget that. I know it wasn’t much money,
but I had to come back and ask your forgiveness.” The stranger was amazed
to see tears well up in the eyes of this middle-aged man. “Would you
please go next door and tell that same story to the man in the store?” he
said. Then the man was even more amazed to see two middle-aged men, who looked
very much alike, embracing each other and weeping together in the front of the
store.

After twenty years, the brokenness was mended. The wall of
resentment that divided them came down. It is so often the little things – like
resentments – that finally divide people. And the solution, of course, is to
let them go. There is really nothing particularly profound about it. But for
fulfilling and lasting relationships, letting them go is a must. Refuse to
carry around bitterness and you may be surprised at how much energy you have
left for building bonds with those you love.