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To
Forgive is to Remember
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To forgive is not to
forget,
To forgive is really to
remember.
That nobody is perfect.
That each of us
stumbles.
When we want so much to
stay upright.
That each of us says
things we wish we had never said.
That we can all forget
that love
is more important than
being right.
To forgive is really to
remember,
that we are so much
more than our mistakes.
That we are often more
kind and caring
and that accepting
another's flaws can help us accept our
own.
To forgive is to
remember,
that the odds are
pretty good
that we might soon need
to be forgiven ourselves.
That life sometimes
gives us more than we can handle
gracefully.
To forgive is to
remember,
that we have room in
our hearts to begin again and again,
and again.
~~Author Unknown~~
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Forgive "To
err is human, to forgive is
divine."
Next to love,
forgiveness is perhaps the
most misunderstood term in the human
language. Forgiveness has been
twisted by a lack of awareness as to
how it functions. To forgive
does not mean we must rejoin with
our ex-lovers, free criminals from
prisons, return to old jobs or
anything else absurd. We are
taught to believe that if we
are to forgive the ones who hurt us,
it must manifest in some form of
behavior and it reflects
weakness. Forgiveness is a
function of love that seeks to
understand the negative of
another person and to release the
pain and find inner peace.
When you choose to forgive somebody
this does not mean that you
acknowledge their cruel behavior as
acceptable, for doing this would be
dishonest. Above all, it does
not mean that we assume a superior
(holier than thou) attitude to
pardon the sins of others.
Let's explore the truth of
forgiveness. The meaning of
the verb forgive, translates
into "to let go,"
which is the act of
forgiveness. Forgiveness is
the releasement of negative feelings
given to you by another. It is
your responsibility to let go of the
hurt that another produces for
you. The other person
can apologize to you for their
negative impact , but you still have
to let go of the hurt feelings
in order for forgiveness to become a
healing experience.
What makes forgiveness so difficult,
for so many? The greatest
obstacle in the living of our life
is the negative ego, which loves to
hold onto grudges and is our
greatest source of resistance
towards forgiveness. Our
negative ego is what blocks our
happiness and peace of mind.
We hold within us grudges,
bitterness, and resentment which
later manifest in Stress, Ulcers and
Poor Health conditions.
Ultimately, we have a choice to
support our Ego or our Souls, to Be
Right or to Find Peace.
Forgiveness like all other soul
qualities (Peace, Love, Innocence,
Respect, Oneness, and Passion) does
not require a type of
behavior. It begins with a
relinqushing of emotional baggage
and the choice to function
from your Soul vs. your negative
Ego. Forgiveness is a
willingness to precive everyone,
including yourself, as either
expressing love or feeling a need
for more love. It is a
relinquishing of a harmful train of
thought
Forgiveness offers freedom to live a
full and harmonious life. The
bi-product is our own willingness
and ability to forget. If we
can not seem to forget then we have
never completely let go.
Holding on to pain only weakens us
and produces misery. The
purpose of forgetting is to prevent
the mind from becoming a battle
field. Negative feelings
evaporate whenever they are looked
at calmly and honestly and are dealt
with responsibly. Often
the processs is gradual. The
desire to function from your Soul
and to live your life with peace of
mind is the motivation for forgiving
another.
If you feel that forgiving adds one
more grudging obligation to your
life, you are functioning from your
negative ego. Understanding
that forgiveness is the doorway to
your happiness is the choice to
function from your soul. When
you are attacked by another,
you must first deal with the hurt
felling that you honestly
feel. Too many try to
forgive without releasing their
anger and hurt. A great
habit to cultivate is to pause
whenever you are having difficulty
releasing an upset form your
mind. Look directly and , in
detail, at the contents of your
thoughts. Dissect your
emotions. Step back from them
for a moment and gain new
prespective. Write them down
in a journal to gain
clarity. And give
yourself time to forgive, it doesn't
have to be instantaneous.
And a person who claims they
never feel hurt by others is
not more spiritually evolved,
but more likely emotonally
repressed. To be a spirtual, doesn't
mean you have to like the ego of
everyone that crosses your
path. For you would then
become transparent and lose your
individuality. Liking somebody
and letting go of someone's negative
impact upon you are two completely
different issues.
When you finally understand that you
can generate the healing of
forgiveness,
which you have been seeking outside
of yourself, you become the
master your life. It will
never happen until you take full
responsibility for every facet
of your life and your relationships
with others.
When you stop looking for
Love, Security and Peace
Outside Yourself and Find it Within,
your finally set free and the magic
of forgiveness has worked it's
spell.
~ by Michaiel
Patrick Bovenes ~
Copyright 1998 Circle of Light
Publishing |
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The Weight of
Resentments
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A
teacher once told each of her students
to bring a clear
plastic
bag and a sack of potatoes to
school. For every person they refuse to
forgive in their life's experience,
they
chose a potato, wrote on it the name and
date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were
quite heavy.
They
were then told to carry this bag with
them everywhere
for
one week, putting it beside their bed
at night, on the
car
seat when driving, next to their desk
at work.
The
hassle of lugging this around with
them made it clear
what a
weight they were carrying spiritually,
and how they
had to
pay attention to it all the time to
not forget and
keep
leaving it in embarrassing places.
Naturally,
the condition of the potatoes
deteriorated
to a
nasty smelly slime. This was a great
metaphor
for
the price we pay for keeping our pain
and heavy negativity!
Too often we think of
forgiveness as a gift to the other
person,
and it clearly is for
ourselves!
Pray
on this...
~~Author
Unknown~~
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