Forgiveness

It feels bad when you make a mistake. When you wrong someone intentionally or unintentionally, their hurt echoes into the core of your being providing a resonance that ensures you know you fucked up. Living in that emotional resonance is helpful for a time. It serves as a guide to course correct your actions in the future so you can learn and move forward. Clinging to this experience indefinitely, however, is not conducive to growth. It facilitates the growth of a tiny snake within you that will evolve to a dragon as you harbor the mistake instead of rectifying it.

If you are fortunate enough to encounter a human who is willing to forgive you for a mistake, keep that human close and learn from their grace, aiming to stay in their good grace, steering clear of your previous folly. Learn from this person because they have extended a hand to you that says, “it’s ok, I still love you”. Incorporate their gesture into your own being and extend this same hand to yourself when you make a mistake. Harsh judgement and critique will stifle your being, slowly suffocating you until you are but a hollow shell of what you could be. These harsh judgements suck the playfulness and laughter out of life. Give yourself space and grace for mistakes. Open your doors when you screw up and send some of that grace and love to yourself. Take stock of what you did wrong and move forward from it having learned something new, reminding yourself that the past is a bridge to nowhere. It serves to guide you and teach you, but is not meant to stay in the forefront of your mind.

Thank you,

The Relative Merchant