Forgive and be free
I am going through a course right now and the theme of forgiveness came up. We all need to forgive, right? Free ourselves from the shackles that bind us. Release the burdens of resentment that we carry.
I sat with my arms folded. “I think I am good,” I told myself. I only harbour grudges against the people that deserve it. The people who are wrong. The ones who have committed the deepest betrayal. Well it turns out, it doesn’t work like that.
A quote from Buddha (allegedly) explains forgiveness as this:
“Holding on to resentment is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
Know that we are the ones getting burned, we are the ones hurting. We are carrying around the hot coals.
So I decided to give it a try. Easy ones at first — someone who glared at me in the street, someone online that made an offhand comment. I silently whispered “I forgive you.” I felt lighter.
I went onto more involved forgiveness. The boyfriend who cheated on me, a betrayal at work. That took a little bit more effort and I didn’t quite clear it, but I did feel better afterwards so I kept going.
Now it’s becoming a daily practice like flossing my teeth. If I am irritated by someone in the street, I forgive them. Something pops into my mind from years ago of when I was wronged — I forgive them.
I also forgive myself. This one is a little sticky as, like most humans, I have been shitty at times and that is hard to look at. But one by one, as we pick those weeds, we free ourselves and put down the hot coals.
Ultimately we are all Divine souls, experiencing a human body. Let my soul see the soul in everyone — then I free myself. Forgiveness rocks. Namaste.
