Five Seconds.

Forgiveness...is a very tricky thing isn't it?

I have thought about what to post about this week and every time I thought about it I had no clue what to write about.  The only thought that was consistent was talking about forgiveness.  I put it aside and tried to think of something more fun...and interesting.  But low and behold the thought would not leave my brain so I decided to stop being so stubborn and just do what I feel I should.  

I need to start off by saying I am in NO WAY trying to preach or judge.  I am just sharing some personal thoughts on the subject that I think are important to me, and may be important to some of you.

I think in life it can be so incredibly easy to offend or hurt someone.  To make them angry or to respond to something without thinking twice about whether or not our actions may have a negative effect.  

It can be soooo easy sometimes...(easier than I would like to admit)to WANT to tick someone off.  We're mad at someone else because they have hurt us, so we feel we are justified by our actions because "they started it".  I get it.  TOTALLY!  I will be 100% open and honest in saying I have had these exact thoughts.  So are we justified in our actions?  Their are times I have literally told myself "it's okay because they obviously don't care about me".  Over time as I've tried to make better choices. I have decided that whether or not someone has hurt me purposely or not, I am absolutely, positively NOT justified in retaliating against the other person.  It is not okay for me to be a jerk, or to say something hurtful, or even to hold ill feelings toward someone. 

Holding on to bad feelings toward someone else just sucks the life out of me.  I mean really the main person I am hurting is myself.  The more I focus on the hate and the anger, blackness fills my heart.  It becomes so overtaken by darkness that slowly but surely there becomes very little room for good.  It's hard to feel happy or to feel anything positive because you are so focused on the negativity.  

Now this is a touchy subject.  I know.  I am not saying that someone can offend me, and automatically I forgive them.  But you know what?  I have really been trying to work on this.  

Wanna know another secret I've recently realized...NO ONE IS PERFECT.  I know right?  I mean I know we all "know" this, but do we really know it?  I mean when someone ticks us off I'm sure that is not the first thought that pops into our minds.  But humour me here, WHAT IF IT WAS? What if we stopped, took a step back and just thought that to ourselves?  What kind of changes would take place?  Would we look at people differently?  Would we see that they truly didn't mean to hurt us, they just didn't think twice?  What if we ALL took 5 minutes or even 5 seconds to think about our reactions?  Can you imagine all of the hurt so many of us could avoid???  I am TELLING you...this world would be a wonderful place.  

Their would be more love, kindness, service, compassion and happiness.  

NOW...I want to turn things around.  What if YOU are the one that offended someone.  There are times when all of us, and I do mean ALL of us, has hurt someone.  Whether it's a total stranger, or our closest friend/loved one.  We know deep down we don't actually WANT to hurt them, but we do anyway.  WHY?  Seriously answer that question to yourself.  That's when the whole "5 seconds" rule applies.  So here we are, we've just said something really hurtful and we feel a HUGE knot in our stomachs because of the guilt we have brewing deep inside of us.  We WISH we could take it back, but GUESS WHAT? We cannot.  We just hope and pray that they will have enough compassion to forgive US.  

So here's the Million Dollar question....how DARE we expect someone to forgive us when we are not willing to forgive someone else?  Now, I get this is not just a "black or white" situation.  I get that there's a lot of healing that has to take place sometimes...but guess what?  We still live in a world where miracles HAPPEN.  And you know what's even COOLER?  WE can make these miracles happen.  No magic wand, or magical power is needed.  Just a softened heart and an open mind.  

The third thing I wanted to share is forgiving ourselves.  This is probably the hardest of all situations.  This is again where the whole "no one is perfect" comes into play.  We can get so hard on ourselves for mistakes that we have made.  We cannot take words back that we regret, but we CAN try to correct the wrongs we have made.  We can learn from them, and apply the things we have learned into our lives.  We can allow these experiences to uplift us, and to become better human beings.  Always remember who you are and where you've come from.  We are ALL children of a loving and PERFECT Heavenly Father.  We all deserve to be given second chances.  Sometimes we need even a third chance.  Remember we are worth it.  Heavenly Father thinks so.  I mean the most important thought to me is that we are willing to keep getting up each time we fall, and try again.  Heavenly Father knows the intensions of our hearts.  He thinks we are worth it....and you know what?  We ARE worth it.  We don't give ourselves enough credit for the good things we do.  Take some time to forgive yourself of past or current mistakes you have made.  All hope is not lost, you can move on and improve your life. There is always hope.  

Forgiveness starts with us.  

I would encourage you to join me in showing mercy to others who have wronged you.  Work on forgiving those who have hurt you.  Forgive yourself for choices you wish you could change.  Turn these choices into something positive and learn from them.  Be the example that we need to be.  Show the world that miracles still DO exist.  It's just up to us to make them happen.  Take 5 seconds.  

Night All :)