Forgiving To Move On

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” ― Mark Twain

How do we move forward in life when you have been hurt or angered? All of us will go through life getting hurt or stung by the actions of another person. This can include all aspects whether it be money, love, physically or perception, it happens.

We may not even realize we are holding onto a grudge with someone.

These grudges can be large or small with many of them being over minor things. The large issues in life such as divorce, job loss or other major events are not the things I refer to here. They are the things we must deal with and eventually heal from.

But the small, minor things are those which constantly nag at us, keeping us from releasing ourselves into greatness.

How do you know you are holding a grudge though?

I have heard it said you know it when you go around all day having a mental argument with the other person or situation. You replay it over and over in your mind. And the odd thing is that the other person likely doesn't even know about the grievance.

This grudge can have a devastating impact on your life. It also has other draining effects upon you life such as;

Mental Drain: A grudge can become all-consuming by plotting revenge, replaying what happened to you over and over in your mind, feeling sorry for yourself about being cheated, etc.

Physical Drain: Anger can heighten physical stress, potentially contributing to heart disease, ulcers, and other health problems.

Block to Progress: As long as you nurse a grudge, you won't think about constructive solutions to the problem. Your grudge "blinds" you. Expressing your hurt and asking for an apology gives you practice in assertiveness.

(Source: Cope, Inc.)

An important thing you can do - offer forgiveness internally.

This doesn't mean walking up to the person and stating it. Doing so could cause an even bigger issue. No, the important thing is to resolve the issue internally. Write a note to them, seal the envelope and then burn it.

Allow yourself to let it go so that you can move on.

Doing so releases the other person (knowingly or unknowingly) from never being able to have a relationship at any level with you. It said that in forgiving another person, you remove them from a life sentence. As long as you hold a grudge against them, they will never be able to potentially bring opportunity or goodness into your life.

Holding a grudge prevents you from ever excepting anything from them.

Certainly, opportunity or goodness may never come from them, but opening yourself to the possibility is better then none at all. CS Lewis wrote, "Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive." I say push through and forgive.

Forgive and move on to a better life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Giving Your Gift

"Every person of every degree, state, sex, or condition without exception must have some personal and particular calling to walk in.” - William Perkins

Your life has a calling or vocation that reflects your talents. It is a gift life has given you. A gift only meant for you. Do you struggle with acceptance of your gift?

John G. Agno wrote, “A life signature is the tracing of the talents we are given and how we express them in our lives.” It is your life and talent to share with the world while you are here.

Some people keep the gift to themselves, forever protecting it from the outside world. They keep their gifts wrapped up neatly and stored away. Why do they fail to see how much greater the gift becomes when shared.

Your gift can have a tremendous impact on the lives of others. When you share your talent, your gift, it becomes more about those around you and less about you. Regardless of what you think, your life has a talent to it.

Release your talent and release it for others. The impact you have on others will create greatness in your life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Out Of The Comfort Zone

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself." - Alan Alda

It is easy to become confined within the everyday sameness of life. We repeat everything over and over because it is what we do. There is comfort in doing the same thing over and over again. So we train ourselves to get into these patterns and work to avoid any surprises.

When something outside of that comfort zone occurs, it surprises us, we shriek and complain. But our comfort zone is there and we expend our efforts to returning to our singular place of comfort.

The problem is the comfort zone will never help you reach goals.

I read an article called Stepping out of My Comfort Zone. The writer describes a life of running nearly every day. The same thing, over and over again. It was a life pretty much confined to what was comfortable. As life often does, a knee problem arose which was not completely debilitating, but presented a need to make new choices.

Choices are there if we are willing to look for them.

We often have the sameness of our daily lives upset by little circumstances. Our nature is to work hard to get back into our old comfort zone; onto that same Hot Wheels(R) track.

So what choice do you have?

For the writer above, the choice might be to have surgery, physical therapy and lots of training to get back into running form. This can be done with no guarantee other than knowing when done you will be at the same place you started. Don't get me wrong as there are plenty of cases where this is the right decision.

Just bear with me as I make my point.

Working hard to get back to the same place you started does not stop time. We end up back on the same treadmill running in place; in place within our comfort zone. Is that we wanted to simply return to where we were?

Our second choice is to take the change as opportunity. We could choose to use the diversion as a way to propel us to something new and greater. The runner mentioned above pushed herself to try something different. She got off that straight track and out of her comfort zone. She is still physically active but became involved in an organization dear to her heart.

Her life stepped forward to something greater; find something greater.

Life will tend to "push us out the door" of our comfort zone at various times. Will we turn and rush back inside? Or will we choose to observe life by looking towards the future horizon?

Let life push you off the couch and out into the wilderness.

Be amazed by what you will find out there ... you.

Stay inspired my friends!

Chasing Greatness

“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are great chase scenes such as Cary Grant getting chased by an airplane in Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 movie North By Northwest.

And than there is the video below which is labeled as the world's worst chase scene. It might just be once you have watched it.

But are you chasing greatness only to find you can never catch it?

Do the common and simple things in life. Be kind and helpful to others. Work hard at your job and with your family and friends.

Greatness will find you.

Stay inspired my friends.