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| Cincinnati Art Museum |
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| Hawaii's "Grand Canyon" |
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| Bonding around the Campfire |
There are two reasons why I am writing this blog:
1) I am reading The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, and
2) I know this is something I have been struggling with all my life and the time is NOW to put it into words.
So, where to begin? We all have "forgiveness" issues, don't we? Forgiving our childhood, our adulthood, and everything in between, right? Well, while reading
The Bluest Eye, I am struck by how judgemental we all can be, from the beauty queen to the one others consider down-right ugly. One thing I have learned is how hard it is to not judge a book by its cover. I am forever judging people for what I "think" they are, without truly knowing them from the inside-out, even when they have been in my life a long time. Life gives us many opportunities to experience the superior position of "Judge," and we seem to take it on with full furry and conviction. Remember the oldest and truest of sayings? "Judge not lest ye be judged?" Goddess, does that ring true for almost every time in my life that I have judged. I judge my Dad, my Mom, almost everyone in my family, despite my undying love and affection for each of them. I judge my ex-husband. I judge my ex-bosses. When I was in my years of searching, I learned that forgiveness does not mean that the other person was right when they abused or mistreated me, I simply learned that by holding onto all that judging and condemnation filled me with such negative feelings and only hurt me. So, forgiveness means to simply stop hurting yourself! How? By LETTING IT GO. Freeing myself from it. Knowing that what happened is not about me, but about that person, their issues. I learned that to be even more free, I could even go so far as to TRULY FORGIVE them for their hurt, because I know they are in pain, also. I know that they are suffering, and I can feel compassion for them. Finally, and this is really the Grand Finale, I could feel GRATITUDE to them for giving me this life experience, because I have become a better person for it. I have grown. Heavy stuff. Well, I have been at home, sick, for many days now, and it has given me time to think about forgiveness. We all have places that we judge others, yet do we truly know what is in their hearts? I think not. We only know what is in ours, and when we choose not to forgive, we hurt our heart. I choose to not hurt my heart, to let go, to forgive, and to give gratitude. You know why? Because I want to be a happier person. Forgiveness does that. It's like free happiness! What do you think?
