Forgiveness

One of the hardest things in life, at least for me, is forgiveness. I don't mean simple things like someone hurt your feelings with words or  innocent actions, or that someone cut you off in traffic, I mean big things, things that really tend to hurt and you live with although they are cutting your life short.

Family is probably the toughest. You know how that works. One relative says something, then another picks up on it, and before long, just like that game of whispering in each other's ear in a group and when the whispered line comes out from the last person's understanding, it is nothing like it started out!

Sometimes we say things we don't really mean, or that someone misunderstands and rather than, at that moment questioning it, they let it fester until the sore becomes so big it gets blown completely out of proportion and beyond healing. In most cases, by the time this happens the beginning comment or incident is completely forgotten by the offended person, but the resentment continues on.

How many of us have had this happen to us because of our own misunderstanding? I know that I have been both the perpetrator and the recipient.

I don't know about you, but I have found that the older I get, the more I wish I could understand what I may have done or said that upset someone to the point they refuse to forgive and prefer to join the hatred crowd. I have discovered that when I forgive, I forget and I am much happier because of it.

Simple advice, think before you speak or act, and maybe you won't have this haunt you in the future. That haunting came interrupt your life and especially your sleep! Trust me.