Dear Diary,<\/p>\n
I wrote previously, ‘Hope is the mechanism for meaning.’\u00a0\u00a0 Through this concept we call ‘hope,’ we convert motivations and aspirations into actions.\u00a0 We may not always believe the outcome of our actions will yield consequences favorable to us, but we put forth the effort anyway.\u00a0 We test the odds because inaction is too great a pain versus the risk of failure.\u00a0 We can look at ourselves in the mirror, knowing we gave it our all rather than bearing the quiet burden of not having tried.\u00a0 The meaning is in the effort; the purpose is in the living.<\/p>\n
We are imperfect beings.\u00a0 We filter life through a series of imperfect things and sometimes come up short in our execution, even though our heart was in the right place.\u00a0\u00a0 The mistakes of the past yield errors of the present.\u00a0\u00a0 Some cycles are harder to break and spawn new ones in the cessation attempts.\u00a0 Our habitual tendencies to be imperfect make practicing forgiveness more critical in the pursuit of a peaceful existence.\u00a0 If hope is a mechanism for meaning, what is forgiveness?<\/p>\n
Guilt is a driver for change.\u00a0 Guilt tells us there is something wrong, and we need to do something about it.\u00a0 When we make mistakes, we feel guilty because we want to change the situation:\u00a0 how we think, how we made someone else feel,\u00a0 or some other consequence of our actions.\u00a0 Forgiveness is the mechanism to relieve the burden of change in an acute or urgent sense.\u00a0 We can still understand the need to improve and do better without being weighed down by guilt to the point of paralysis or dysfunction.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the coin, Anger is the mechanism for protection and can also be a tool for change.\u00a0 Guilt can be insidious, depressing, and something that corrupts from within.\u00a0\u00a0 Anger can be explosive, self-maintaining, and destructive. \u00a0\u00a0Both can lead to cycles of one due to the other.\u00a0 Forgiveness can stop the process by relieving the burden of pressure.\u00a0\u00a0 We can still want to protect something without needing to be angry.\u00a0 We can still understand the consequences of our actions without needing to be guilty.\u00a0 We can still desire and pursue change proactively instead of chasing it as a reaction to a mistake.<\/p>\n
Practicing forgiveness removes the pressure from us to be solely reactive people trapped in cycles of negative emotions and gives us the time and space to improve in a healthy, sustainable fashion.\u00a0 Practicing forgiveness isn’t always easy; the pressure we put on ourselves can be immense, and as such, removing it can be a complicated process.\u00a0 Healing, however, is worth it in the long run.\u00a0 We, as living, breathing people, are worth it.\u00a0 We are full of hopes, dreams, love, and a legacy of successes to carry on, even if we make mistakes along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Diary, I wrote previously, ‘Hope is the mechanism for meaning.’\u00a0\u00a0 Through this concept we call ‘hope,’ we convert motivations and aspirations into actions.\u00a0 We may not always believe the outcome of our actions will yield consequences favorable to us, but we put forth the effort anyway.\u00a0 We test the odds because inaction is too […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[304,337],"tags":[307,329,179,316,168],"class_list":["post-28086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dear-diary","category-the-mindfulness-journey","tag-307","tag-acceptance","tag-anger","tag-forgiveness","tag-hope"],"yoast_head":"\n