Much
like the theory, "if you eat fruits and veggies, you'll be incredibly
healthy." Then, we go on eating white flour, sugar and caffeine and
complain about how our back hurts, we're bloated and we have 10 pounds that just
won't go away!
WE
are one funny species!
The
dictionary says forgiveness
is: a pardon; compassionate feelings that support a
willingness to forgive, the act of excusig a mistake or offense.
Can
we look in the mirror and say, "It's o.k., you're doing the best you can,"
? OR, do we continually beat ourselves up for the little things that we feel
guilty about?
My
son is going through the process of receiving his First Communion at school and
recently a wonderful woman, Rosanne Coury, spoke to the parents
about forgiveness and gratitude. Her word simply touched my heart. I
found myself crying silently to myself as she discuss how tender and sweet our
children are and how we have such power to teach them forgiveness.
As
parents, we can model a behavior of self forgiveness and forgiveness towards others.
It's
like that glazed doughnut, we know it's not good for us, yet we still eat it.
WE know we should forgive them for the "little" mistakes they make, but for
some reason, we make them feel like the world has come to an end because they didn't
clean their room, they fought with their sibling or they "were a bit too
snotty".
I,
for one am a constant work in progress. Everyday I strive to learn this simple task
and everyday I succeed and fail.
We
all could use a little motivation, so I've dedicated my free time to a wonderful
organization called the Heart of the Heartland . The Heartland
sponsors a luncheon speaker series that invite amazing speakers to
Chicago. I'm very excited to include you on my invite list...look for me
there!
On
March 11th join me as we welcome:
Robin
Casarjian, M.A.
author, educator, and pioneer in the emerging area of forgiveness work. For over 20
years she has been teaching about forgiveness to groups as diverse as the US Army,
Fortune 500 companies, prison, churches, and health care facilities. Her first book,
Forgiveness: A Bold Choice for A Peaceful Heart (Bantam, 1992), was
one of the first of the contemporary books to be published on forgiveness and is
regarded as a classic on the subject.
