Forgiving Before Thanksgiving
Forgiving before Thanksgiving
The holiday season is upon us and we will soon be sharing more time with loved ones. And there will also be the people who makes us crazy. Sometimes they are one and the same. There’s a saying, “Your parents know how to press all your buttons because they’re the ones who installed them.” Truth!
This is where forgiveness comes in. If you truly want love, good cheer and joy to flow through you and around you this season, then make sure there isn’t anything inside you that is blocking it. It might mean forgiving people you see regularly or someone who is not in your life that you still resent or blame. Boundaries and communication are key with people in your life, but think of the people you don’t ever need to see who you might need to forgive. It might even be a tax collector, worker at the DMV, a grumpy healthcare provider, or someone with roadrage.
Let’s get rid of all of it right now!
To prepare and create a better holiday season for all, do your forgiveness work now.
“Ugh!” you say?
I know! But there are benefits! Forgiveness, allows our souls and spirits to be free! Forgiveness unblocks invisible barriers and allows creativity to flow. Forgiveness throws out old baggage and makes room for all the new gifts and blessings you are meant to receive. Do you really want to miss out on any gift? Or delay receiving it?
“I just can’t do it one more time.”
Yes, you can. 
Forgiveness, similar to love, is a choice. And both are like muscles that we choose to exercise. You might not have the great feeling of freedom or uplifting at first, but with time and consistency and practice, the feelings come. And if you’re a praying person, you can ask for God to provide the feeling as soon as possible. Sometime it’s instantaneous and sometimes it takes time.
Keep in mind…forgiveness is not agreeing with someone, or condoning an action, or forgetting what happened. It merely means you will not longer hold the person on trial in the court of your own heart. Which when you do hold that trial over and over, you know it merely causes stress, anxiety, anger, resentment, increased blood pressure, and total distraction from what you are supposed to be doing! Why give anyone that power over your precious moments in life that you can never get back?
And do you really want to be known as an unforgiving person or a merciful and kind person? Isn’t it better to be a person who never lets other people’s bad behavior stop them from living their dreams and best selves?
So do the work this week, and keep practicing it so that when you are with others, the love and hope you have for them and for your time together is built on goodness. And goodness always produces abundance whether it’s fun, cheer, laughter, peace, acceptance, trust or joy.
And if you still don’t want to do the work, keep reading. Whenever I think I can’t or don’t want to forgive, I remind myself of who I want to be and I remember there are people who are really suffering and who have suffered much more difficult things than I have but grew from the experience and stayed free in their hearts even when everything else was taken.
When I struggle now, I remember this note, which was actually a prayer…
Ravensbruck concentration camp in northern Germany is where over 90,0000 women and children were murdered and used for slave labor and medical experimentation. After World War 2, when the Allied Forces entered they found a note that was tied to a stone near a woman and child. This is what it said.
Oh Lord, when I shall come with glory into your kingdom, remember not only the men and women of goodwill; remember also those of ill will. But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we bought, thanks to this suffering; Our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which have become part of our lives because of our suffering here. May the memory of us not be a nightmare to them when they stand in judgment. When they come to judgment, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Surely, we can forgive even the cruelest people in our lives. And if we follow this example, our suffering and growth could possibly become an intercession for another person’s healing. That’s when forgiveness is heroic. And don’t we all in our hearts want to be someone’s hero?
Forgive now. Forgive every day. And enjoy each moment and blessing of the coming holiday.
~Tricia