Are you forgiven?

March 8th, 2010 by admin

“To forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that “summum bonum,” the greatest good.” ~ Bishop Desmond Tutu

This week we focus on the most liberating and empowering thing we can do for ourselves. That is forgiveness. Without forgiveness we are unable to live our lives to the fullest and will most likely harbor must negativity which takes away from our lives.

It is said that for each minute of anger you lose a minute of life. This I can believe because anger and other negative emotions cause trauma to the body in the form of stress. We have heard the statement, “Stress Kills.”

If you can live your life in a state of constant forgiveness you harbor only love and the body is relaxed and calm. This state adds to life. The more forgiveness the more joyous your life.

We all have been hurt or taken advantage of in our lives. All experiences are meant to be learning and growing experiences. It is not what happens to us that is important but how we react or don’t react to them.

If we can condition ourselves to not react we do two things. First and most important we save ourselves from the stress of negativity and second we take away the satisfaction of those who are trying to get us to react, usually in a negative way.

Eric Fromm in his book, “The Art of Loving,” says that in order for a mother to love her child she must love all children and in order for a man to love a woman he must love all women. This is very profound, he is saying that in order to love another person we must love all people.

We cannot truly love another if we harbor negative feelings about that person. Jesus commanded that we forgive our enemies. This must be done if we are to live our lives in unconditional love.

Unconditional love is living our lives with our hearts filled with love. without any preconceived notions or expectations. Unconditional love is giving others the space to be who they are, even with their shortcomings.

We may not like what another is doing at times but we must respect their right to live their life as they choose. If what they are doing is more than we can stand then we should not include them in our life. But, we should not hold any emotions or thoughts of negativity against them because that is only hurting ourselves.

We are responsible for our life and our life only. As long as we put forth the effort to live our lives to the best of our ability and fill our space with as much love as possible we are living a good life.

So forgive those who have wronged you or hurt you intentionally or unintentionally. Forgive them and bless them.

Also remember that the most important part of forgiveness is often overlooked. That is forgiving one’s self. Get in touch with those hidden feelings of guilt and shame and forgive yourself.

TODAY’S TIP: Repeat this phrase often during the day. I’m sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you. You are saying this to yourself, about yourself.

Have you forgiven?