Letting go of resentment.

A lesson for a peaceful 2025

I listened to a beautiful episode of The Imperfects podcast a few weeks ago called
”Resent less, live more.”

I played it as I walked around my neighbourhood with Daisy in the pram and my ears gobbled up every word, validating so much of how I was feeling and showing me where I still had (a lot of) work to do.

Last year I turned the spotlight on myself, my relationships, my work and my time in general, in search of a life with more peace, creativity, joy and fulfilment.

I realised that a major undertone of my life, despite being incredibly blessed, was a feeling of resentment - toward people, toward situations and most of all, toward myself. I had to work out why I was feeling this way; after all, I have so much to be grateful for, however we all know that two things can be true.

In mid 2024 I started writing again after a several year hiatus and it has brought me immense joy. I don’t do it for feedback or validation, although your messages are lovely and mean a lot to me, I do it for the sheer love of it.

Realising that I was writing for the love of it was a significant unlocking-A-HA-well-what-do-you-know moment for me; as a mother of two young children, the pseudo-mother of 40+ employees and two very demanding P&Ls, there was no time or energy to do the things I loved - the things just for me, Jess. My own needs were at the bottom of the metaphorical pile and had been for some time. I finally realised I was harbouring a lot of resentment towards the way my life was structured. Like every Mother of young children, I have often felt exhausted and resentful that something as simple as going for a walk alone requires the same level of coordination as a meeting of the United Nations. As the founder of two companies, I was resentful that even though I was the “boss” I had no control over my own time or schedule and was constantly making up for it by doing work at all hours of the day, further eating into my personal and family time. The first step is being comfortable enough in your own needs and worth to admit that something has pissed you off enough to become a resentment. The next step is to work how how to let it go. I have spent the last month exploring the concept of resentment and what I can do to change my relationship with it. Here’s what I’ve discovered.