On Forgiveness

I saw a quote today in my Flylady bulletin that really struck me:

"Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

That may sound a bit morbid, but the point is that we punish ourselves by holding onto negative emotions. I can't think of anyone I know that hasn't gone through hard times and been wronged, either intentionally or unintentionally. But, in the end we all have a choice about whether or not to forgive and move forward with our lives or to hold on to bitter feelings and resentment.

One of the things that Flylady is teaching me is that we sometimes cast ourselves in the role of the martyr and focus all of our attention of building a list of "poor me's". It's true that there are times when things happen that aren't fair or deserved. But, feeling like a martyr only holds us back. There's no joy or power in feeling like a victim.

In college, one of my professors said, "We can't choose what happens to us, only how we react to it". It's a tough mantra to live by, but I am doing my best to open my heart, to forgive those I hold resentments against and to accept the humanity of others.