Day 17-Forgiveness

Ever have a bad moment?  A bad day?  Week?  I’ve had many.  Who hasn’t?

Ever been hard on yourself for that moment, day, week?  I have.

I was sharing my relief tonight with a friend that the ladies were in bed.  It wasn’t a great evening.  Being the friendly social worker that she is, she was trying to make helpful suggestions (she was trying to “social work” me).  My reply was that it was a bad day.  I wasn’t concerned.  And really, I wasn’t.

We are all allowed those bad moments.  So why am I so hard on myself when I have them?

I don’t know that there is an answer to that question.

There is forgiveness.  I am allowed to make mistakes.  I expect that I will make mistakes.

It’s not that easy though, is it?  To simply say, “I forgive myself.”  There’s an undercurrent of, I should have known better, I should have done something else.  The should haves.

And what about looking at the actions of others?  Feeling wronged or slighted?

Forgiveness for me is about moving on.  Letting go of that burden of obsessing about a situation-a situation I created, a situation another person created or a situation I think the other person created.  And there is a difference between the last two.  At times, I have misinterpreted someone’s actions.  I have given those actions meaning where there was none.  I made it personal.

Today didn’t end strong.  That’s ok.  Not every day will.  Tomorrow will be a new opportunity.  Probably more opportunities to make mistakes.  That’s ok too.  There will also be opportunities to be the person.

 

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