Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Every Sunday for over six years now, I’ve been sitting down to write these posts and thinking about life, how it works, what we think, why we do the things we do, the effect emotions have on our thought process, how we interact as humans, and everything else we encounter on whatever path we’ve chosen to make. I just want to be happy. I want others to feel like their lives have been changed for the better in some way by having had me in it. I want to create things that will outlive me. I want to stay physically and mentally healthy for as long as possible. I choose to really feel my emotions, too. Love, anger, happiness, sadness, gratitude… what is life without emotion and passion? And, as an emotional and passionate person – sometimes I’ll say or do something in the moment that won’t be taken well by someone else. That happens every now and then for me, and it got me thinking about how we interact with each other as friends, and family, and even as we watch the lives of the rich and famous. Sometimes it seems like we set unrealistic standards for everyone else. We thrust a microphone in front of a sports star after a crushing defeat and ask him or her the one question they don’t want to hear, then get all bent out of shape when they utter something in that moment that we as a society thinks to be totally inappropriate. We do that with everyone to some extent. Hold them to standards I’m not sure we hold ourselves too. Whatever happened to forgiveness? Maybe social media ended the idea of forgiveness. Nobody is perfect. None of us has ever done, and said, and acted 100% in the correct manner to please everyone on earth every moment of their lives. As I get older, I try to look at the context of things and in most cases give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m not talking about people who consistently do and/or say things for shock value here – but, when someone says or does something that seems out of character and people are quick to judge and throw stones… I’m not going to be the first man in on that. We all walk paths that are unique. We all make mistakes. We’re all just trying our best to be loving, happy and productive. I’ll err on the side of forgiveness over judgement anytime I can. Judgement keeps resentment and anger alive. Forgiveness lets it go. And it can be hard to do, because there will be times we feel people don’t deserve to be forgiven. So we hold onto the judgement, the anger, the resentment… and it only takes away from our lives, not theirs. Remember the lost art of forgiveness today. The anger and resentment you’re holding hurts no-one else but you. And don’t forget to include yourself in that as well – all the stupid things you’ve ever done and said that you beat yourself up with whenever the memory comes back? Forgive yourself and move forward knowing that our mistakes can guide our future when we learn from them. No need to use current moments being pissed off about things that are in the past. But the choice is ours to make. Consider forgiveness today.
