brooke hargett's blog

(photo source)

Day 28: Identify someone who needs your forgiveness. Take steps to make amends. 

The Blurb: Someone has wronged you. They’ve hurt you, offended you, or broken you. Maybe you can’t even talk about it. Today, this message is for you.

The kind of anger or hurt you are carrying is corrosive and damaging. Those feelings can consume you. The fasted way through them is forgiveness. This topic is heavy and it’s going to take some soul searching. You may have to think about it for a while, but I would like you to identify someone who needs your forgiveness. It doesn’t have to be for something big, or maybe it is. Either way, the act of forgiveness is one of the most powerful abilities we have as humans.

Suggestions:

(photo source)

As you’re thinking this through, consider if the person who needs your forgiveness is you. Several years ago I went through some life altering events and was trying to find myself again. I made mistakes along the way. Guilt, even over minor things, used to plague me. I would wake up with a sick feeling in my stomach and then remember whatever it was and continue to feel it throughout the day. It was awful.

Finally I decided to take a look the source of those feelings and decide if there was anything I could do to fix it or make amends. If I needed to give an apology I would do that. After doing everything I could do to right the situation, I looked at it like this:

I did something I would not do again if placed in the same situation. I’ll be better next time.

And then… I let it go. There was no reason to weigh myself down with guilt over something I couldn’t change. Guilt is the one of the most debilitating feelings. That formula changed the way I felt about myself and allowed me to grow and move on.

Forgive yourself.

Keeping It Real: This might be hard. But on our quest to love ourselves, to better ourselves, this is a hugely necessary step. Forgiveness purges blackness out of both the giver and the recipiant. It does not mean you lose the upper hand. Forgiveness is for you-  to help you find peace.

Watch this remarkable story of a woman who was able to find it in her heart to forgive her son’s murderer:

I don’t know if I could do that. But I admire her ability to make peace with what happened and to try to be a good person. Some of the strongest people I know are people who have been able to forgive terrible things.

You can do this. It can change your life. It can change someone else’s. The more life I live, the more I see that people are people, and they make mistakes. You haven’t walked anyone’s path but your own. You don’t know what they’ve been through that put them in the position where they made those decisions. Maybe they’ve learned from their mistake and are trying to be better.

Maybe someday you will need someone’s forgiveness. You never know.

Photo of the Day:

 

I hope you’re able find it in your heart to forgive. We are getting toward the end of the “30 Days to Love Yourself Project.” I hope that this whole month of taking a deep look at yourself, your habits, the way you treat yourself and those around you has been helpful. I’ve enjoyed hearing from you and learning how you’ve made these challenges work for you.

If you’ve missed a previous post, you can get caught up HERE. Don’t forget to sneak a peek of what we’re doing tomorrow!

 

See you tomorrow!

Love,
Brooke