real life conversations, pt. 10

Radvent Day 4: Forgiveness

Practice forgiving about small, everyday things. Who and what are you ready to let go of resentment toward?

~

Me: Who's someone that I need to forgive? Who am I harboring bitterness toward?

Doug: *someone that rubs me the wrong way* ?

Me: Hm, I don't think I need to forgive her. She just annoys me.

Doug: What about *someone who said something offensive to me* ?

Me: I don't harbor bitterness toward her. I don't really care about her.

Doug: Well. This was an awesome exercise.

~

Soooo.

Clearly I've got some work to do in this arena.

First of all - - I know that there are far more people that I should ask for forgiveness, so I'm not trying to be hypocritical in this entry. I have hurt many people in my life - if I haven't asked you for forgiveness and there's something I've done to hurt you, please talk to me about it.

I forgive my former student who told me I'm not a good teacher.

I forgive people who speak without thinking and hurt my feelings.

I forgive my three best friends from freshman year of high school who consistently left me out.

I forgive my best friend from college who stopped hanging out with me after she got a boyfriend.

I forgive Ashley from my kindergarten class for tattling on me for talking while Mrs. Burgio was on the phone and subsequently making me miss 10 minutes of recess.

I forgive the boy who criticized my physical appearance and caused me to be plagued by insecurities for years.

I forgive the man who told me I was laid off from my first teaching job.

I forgive Zooey for chewing up the little apple & peach that Jayne carved for me.