When an old resentment starts doing today's work

A client had been through a frustrating earlier experience at work.

Later, when something similar appeared, they found themselves delaying, disengaging and holding back.

There were perfectly rational explanations.

But one question changed the conversation:

“Are you responding to what is happening now — or to what happened before?”

That was uncomfortable.

Resentment rarely announces itself. It simply makes certain work feel less worth doing.

The client realised that others had largely moved on from the earlier episode.

They were still carrying it.

That did not make the original hurt illegitimate.

But it did create a choice:

Should yesterday's disappointment decide how much of me I bring to today's work?

The situation had not changed.

But their relationship to it had.

And with that came agency.