FORGIVENESS AS A DAILY PRACTICE

     Sometimes we have to forgive others just for being who they are, and forgive ourselves the same- for being impulsive and blurting out words that would have been better left unsaid, for being confused and not understanding, for being mis-emotional, for being afraid and acting out. Our journey is ripe with opportunities for ill-timed responses and bad ideas, for mis-interpretation and offenses taken, for unintentional rudeness and over-stepping our bounds.
     And it's all ok, so long as our intention is good, and even if it isn't. Forgiveness is the best survival tactic I know of. It fills us with compassion and wipes the slate clean of resentment. It gives us a fresh start. We are deserving of it, and so are those with whom we live and work. We are all emotional and reactive. We are all capable of making a mess. We have all been selfish, unkind, judgmental, and afraid. We have all been wrong about something, or someone- over and over and over. Why should we expect anyone else to be less so?
     Forgiveness is the balm and the salve for all of our chapped and wounded emotions. Frequently, regularly, daily, we must forgive some other or forgive ourselves, or both. It frees us and relieves us and returns us to feeling good. Forgiveness returns us to being the right size.

I forgive myself for my limits and imperfections, and I fogive the limits and imperfections of all those I encounter. I am willing to live and let live.