Forgiveness

I read a great quote on forgiveness just the other day:

"Resentment is like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die."
(Nelson Mandela)


(Takes a minute... think about it...so true!!!)

Forgiveness is a hard thing to do, but it is needed to move on with ones life. It is also a daily process in some cases. It is also a harder road to walk down than one of resentment and anger.

I had just the other day listened to someone speak about 'Forgiveness' and how it sets us free...not forgiving keeps us imprisoned within our own selves and keeps us stuck at the point the situation happened, and if we are not yet in control after all this time...forgiveness helps move us past that into the present day...into freedom.:flowerforyou:

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"Let's get one thing straight: Forgiving is not something you do for someone else. It is not even something you do because you SHOULD, according to the standards of religious belief or human decency. Forgiving is something that you do for yourself. It is one way of becoming the person you were created to be--and fulfilling God's dream of you is the only way to true wholeness and happiness. You NEED to forgive so that you can move forward with life. An unforgiven injury binds you to a time and place someone else has chosen; it holds you trapped in a past moment and in old feelings."

Carol Luebering - Finding A Way To Forgive (article, CareNotes)

So true so true. Thank you for posting this

Is there ANYTHING that CAN'T be forgiven?

I think that forgiveness is often confused with excusing someone else's bad behaviour. That becomes a stumbling block.

Forgiveness is more about releasing your anger at someone instead of letting it steer the way you deal with every other human being from that moment on. (I was hurt once doing this, I will never do this again...)

I believe that grief is the most under-rated emotion in our north american culture. Grief is the natural reaction to any real or percieved loss. (Loss of a parent, loss of a dream, loss of innocence...) We tend to stuff it down, because we don't want to deal with it.

The hardest thing about grief is that it is an emotion that has to be walked through, like dirty water, without seeing clearly where you are going, and it is unpleasant. But it takes us forward when every other way takes us back.

We need to hear ourselves, out loud, saying, "What was done to me was wrong!"

Then we need to have someone who we trust, and who genuinely loves us say back, "Yes. It was wrong. It is tragic. I feel your pain, but hang on, it will get better. There is hope."

Hope feeds our soul and pulls us through grief, so that anger loses it's hold on us, and we become whole.

- The bone is strongest where it has been broken and healed.
- Life makes you either bitter or better
- Life makes hard what is soft in us, and softens what is hard in us