Resolve the Past

Olives, brussels sprouts, liverwurst, and sushi are among the foods that people either love or hate. Personally, I hate liverwurst and love sushi. Many years ago I shared a platter of sushi with a with a like minded friend. We were both in an adventurous mood so we ordered things that were new to us and split each piece.

At that time my work brought me into frequent contact with physicians. A few days after this meal I mentioned to one of them that my stomach had not been feeling right. He listened to the symptoms and advised a dose of Pepto Bismol. After that my stomach ailment went from a minor nuisance to a major problem. It took three more visits to the doctor over the period of a month for a correct diagnosis to be made. It was a truly rough month. My work at the time required a lot of traveling which was a huge challenge with a chronically bad stomach.

I had a parasite that can only be caught from eating raw fish and it had to be that sushi that I shared with my friend. It was the only raw fish I had eaten that month. My friend was fine, so I had gotten it from one half of a piece of sushi! Once it was correctly diagnosed it was easy and rapidly cured. My response to this experience was to swear that I would never eat another piece of sushi as long as I lived.

Three years went by before I asked myself why I was condemning myself to a life without sushi. One fluke (pun intended) experience and I denied myself the pleasure of a food I enjoyed. Did it make sense to be ruled by the fear of getting a parasite? So, I started eating it again and have enjoyed many wonderful sushi meals since.

I was reminded of this incident this past weekend as I was talking with an old friend. A mutual acquaintance who seemed to be stuck in the past came up in our conversation. The fact is that not all unresolved, lingering situations are as easily identifiable as my experience with parasites, or as easy to reverse. To find them you need to examine the way you cope with challenges, negative relationships, uncomfortable communication. What habits do you have that don’t serve you well? It’s almost guaranteed that these behaviors are left over from something that happened in the past. It’s worth the effort to heighten your awareness and identify them. The benefits are more confidence, fewer problems and more opportunities.

What’s the bad sushi meal that drives a practice in your business or personal life? We all have unresolved matters from the past that are no longer true for us today, but still influence our behavior. If we can identify and handle them, we are free to deal with new situations as they present themselves. We gain the freedom to enhance the quality of our lives, and eat good sushi!