FORGIVENESS IN ACTION

We all go through times of friction and hurt feelings with our friends, loved ones and associates. We carry the pain of a misunderstanding so far; we nurse our grudge, we rehearse our grievance so long, then, one day, we say to ourselves, I really don't want this hurt feeling to damage my relationship with so-and-so any longer, and we drop it. This is forgiveness in action. We may not actually go up to the person and say, "I forgive you for hurting me." We just show him or her by our actions and our attitude that all is well between us. The barrier of pain and hurt, doubt and distrust, has been dissolved, and we are at peace with each other again. We are all masters of forgiveness; this is not something that we don't know how to do. To live in relationship on this earth, we have had to forgive a thousand thousand times all the slights, the misunderstandings, the miscommunications— we all know how and when and why and whom to forgive. So let's remember to ask— when things aren't working for us— who do we need to forgive now? Use the WD-40 of forgiveness to get unstuck now.