Thanks Matt. I see that letting go and metta are the central theme around learning from mistakes – ours or theirs, and seeing things clearly.
Letting go is an idea which I do not fully understand. To get out of the stuck feelings, I usually have to divert my mind for a long time towards something which is effortlessly interesting – it looks like the mind is trying to find something else to attach to which is not painful. If I put in conscious effort to divert the mind, it keeps coming back to the very things which I am trying to let go. The more I try to let go, the more effort I put in and it is exhausting. I guess this is not really how letting go works. There seems to be something deep and non-verbal in the mind which justifies attachment instead of letting go.
I admit to having very little metta at this stage within me for myself and others. Will consider the guided meditation from Sharon Salzburg.