Hey Alabama: Bitterness Is Poison That You Drink Yourself

Mike has a unique take on things happening all around us these days.

A topic like bitterness is a big one to handle because we all deal with it.

Someone has hurt you or done something to you that is hard to get over.

OK, Mike, what say you:

There’s something about two in the morning that makes you honest. No distractions. No noise. Just you and your thoughts.

And a while back, mine weren’t good.

After 25 years with the same company — twenty-five — I was suddenly out. Budget cuts. No warning. No “writing on the wall.” Thirty days' severance and a handshake.

That was it.

Anyone would’ve said I had every right to be bitter. And they’d be right. But here’s what nobody tells you about bitterness: It doesn’t hurt them. It hurts you.

At first, it felt justified. Bitterness disguised itself as a warm drink to soothe my hurt. It went down smooth like fine scotch. But then it felt heavy. Then it felt like it was eating me alive. I wasn’t sleeping. My chest felt tight all the time. Anxiety out of nowhere. Mood swings. Short temper. Zero joy. Stuff I normally loved — radio, music, life — just felt… gray.

And one night it hit me:

Resentment is basically drinking poison and hoping the other person gets sick.

They’re sleeping fine. You’re the one staring at the ceiling at 3:17 a.m.

I started reading about it because that’s what insomniacs do. Bitterness is not just emotional. It has physical and spiritual side effects, too. And the medical side surprised me.

Studies show chronic resentment and anger can:

• Raise cortisol (stress hormone)
• Increase blood pressure
• Elevates heart disease risk
• Disrupt sleep cycles
• Weaken the immune system
• Contribute to anxiety and depression

Basically, your body never turns off “fight or flight.” You stay stuck in survival mode. Like your brain thinks the layoff just happened five minutes ago. Every day. That’s not living. That’s surviving.

So what do you do with bitterness? Here’s the part nobody likes: you don’t “get over it.” You work through it, slowly, messily, like physical therapy for the soul.

Here’s what helped me:

1. Say it out loud. Don’t pretend it didn’t hurt. It hurt badly. Admitting that took power away from it.

2. Separate the event from your identity. I wasn’t “discarded.” A budget got cut. There’s a difference. One attacks your worth. The other is just business math.

3. Move your body; walks, fresh air, anything. Stress hormones literally burn off through movement. Science, not motivation poster stuff.

4. Talk to somebody: a friend, a pastor, a therapist, or your wife. Keeping bitterness quiet is how it grows.

5. Replace “why me” with “what now.” That one changed everything. Because “why me” has no answer. “What now” builds a future.

And here’s the twist. The thing I thought ruined my life actually led me somewhere better. Now I’m on midnight to 5 am with the crew at 95.3 The Bear.

Working with Steve, DC, John Garrett, and Mary K., I’m laughing more. Sleeping better. Actually enjoying radio again. I didn’t lose something. I got redirected.

But I never would’ve seen that if I’d stayed bitter. Bitterness keeps you staring backward. Healing lets you look ahead.

If you’re carrying some resentment tonight because you got laid off. Maybe somebody wronged you. Maybe life just didn’t play fair. You’re allowed to hurt. Just don’t unpack and live there.

Because the people who hurt you? They’re not losing sleep.

You are. And you deserve better than that. Let it loosen its grip a little at a time. It may never fully disappear. But it doesn’t get to run your life. Not anymore.

See you somewhere east of midnight,