Monday, May 12, 2014

A Year of Kindness - Challenge Week 19

This week's challenge is to FORGIVE SOMEONE. Whether it is for a big hurt that you've been holding onto for a long time or something small and trivial that just irritates you. That driver that just cut you off in traffic? Forgive him and wish him well. Let go. Move on.  Someone you live with left their clothes on the floor again, failed to rinse their dirty dishes, forgot to take out the trash, broke your favorite mug...? Forgive them and wish them well. Let go. Move on.  A good friend betrayed a confidence and left you hurt, embarrassed, and distrustful? Forgive her and wish her well. It doesn't mean you have to trust her or even resume the relationship. But let go. Move on.

I chose this as a challenge for this week because I recently needed to let go of a hurt I had been unconsciously nurturing for awhile. Not healthy. And as soon as I became aware of it, I knew I needed to deal with it.


I made a ritual of forgiveness - writing down the name and the hurt that I was forgiving on a piece of paper and then burning it. Letting go of the regrets, watching as the pain I had been holding onto wafted away on a sliver of smoke, seeing the entire memory reduced to nothing but a bit of ash, forgiving myself in the process. It was a situation that I had no power to change, but one that I could finally let go. It was a healing moment.

Forgive someone. You'll be glad you did.

6 comments:

Melissa said...

Great challenge this week. It's so true that forgiveness is not about the other person!

Missus Wookie said...

I always remember that anger and grudges hurt you as you are holding them not the other person who is not. I've been working on forgiving people a lot lately.

Sian said...

Oh, this is a good one

Karen said...

I love the ritual you've designed for this one. It's a wonderful challenge.

debs14 said...

I like the idea of letting the hurt go up in smoke, I can imagine that it is very therapeutic.

Maria Ontiveros said...

What a lovely ritual. I have definitely been focusing on letting go of hurt and pain from the past. It leaves my heart (and mind) open to look to the future.
Rinda