Ongoing Forgiveness
Submitted by Stephen WintersThroughout the course of each day their are countless... that occur that can build resentment and bitterness. The process of forgiveness is monitoring and being constantly aware of our thinking. As each event happens that triggers a pain or ... response, then we consciously let it go. Whenever we feel hurt and want to withdraw, we instead reach out in kindness. With each .... we disarm it by proactively acting contrary to our emotions. We think kind thoughts and proactively do some acts of kindness to those who hurt us. To be .... much of the pain we receive comes from our own minds. Much of the hurt we receive from others is of our own imaginations.
It is so easy to build up tiny resentments which can damage relationships. To disarm the resentment we continually let go of our "rights" to be treated as we imagine. It is a matter of "dying to self" moment by moment of each day.
Forgiving others is not a one-time act, but an ongoing process. It is a way of continually acting with humility, not expecting to be the center of everyone's universe.
A lot of the pain that we experience is because of our incorrect focus. We think of ourselves and of our "rights" of what others "should" do for us or how they "should" act towards us. Then we are constantly dissappointed or angered because we perceive that others are not meeting our needs.
Where is our attention focused? Is it focused on what I "should" be receiving, or on how I can serve others?
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