On Forgiveness:
My good friend, Sally, told me that Tibetan Buddhists believe that people who bring challenges into your life are really just Buddhas who are sent to help you grow and strengthen inside. They are gifts, to be respected. This belief sits comfortably with my philosophy on unconditional forgiveness. As an activist of the heart, forgiveness and compassion are paramount. Yet to offer forgiveness with strings attached or because you’re expecting a specific response defeats the purpose. True forgiveness must be devoid of ego. To forgive is to truly let go of the outcome, interpretation, results, and unresolved emotions. Maybe it’s because we’re nearing the end of 2006, or maybe it’s because I’m feeling the usual holiday despair, or maybe it’s because when I get down, I always to strive harder to push my comfort zone and snap out of the doldrums. Either way, I’m in space of trying to live my values and uphold what I know to be true and honest in my heart: that only through forgiveness can I find serenity, compassion, and greater healing. With forgiveness as my destination, I am able to greet each day with the expected challenge of facing all my fears and having faith that whatever doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger. This journey requires daily recognition and appreciation for all that I am grateful for, and not just the good stuff (that would be too simple). Unconditional gratitude means acknowledging your gratitude for the hard stuff, the difficult times, the messy emotions too. So I say a little prayer that gives thanks for the whole story, the love and the light as well as the suffering and the loss. From each in lies a lesson. And each lesson, a gift.
