Personal Meditation No. 57

“Forgiveness is a great quality. Start with forgiving yourself and you won’t have to worry about finding it difficult to forgive others.”

Embrace the Within.

Forgiveness isn’t always about doing something horrendously wrong. Forgiveness is typically about mundane things. I am getting better at letting go of the things I can’t control. I can’t control how other people think or act. I can’t control the “meddling ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly” behaviors that Aurelius warns about. I can only control how I react to the world and people around me.

And that takes forgiveness for them and forgiveness for me. Mainly the forgiveness is for how I react to those people. I need to learn to let myself off the hook for being human. I think we all need to grant ourselves a little more grace in how we act.

I think it’s a lot easier to forgive others because we have lower standards for how other people act than we do for ourself. Sure, there are some folks we build up and when they fail us we lose our enamored state of hero worship but doubtless the person we hold to the highest standard is ourself.

I think this is truly ironic. All these people out here beating themselves up for not being better but forgiving everyone else for being lower. It’s the irony of life.

Anywho, I was thinking about this today as I was out on the plantation and planting and working like every Tuesday and Thursday. The garden and livestock have progressed greatly from last year’s catastrophe but I still want things to be better. I am not satisfied with my progress in growing crops, raising chickens, creating compost, collecting seeds, raising rabbits, and drying spices. But, I should be amazed at what I am doing. I should be grateful for all that I’ve learned and embrace the beauty of the path I am on.

But I don’t do that quite enough. I don’t take a lot of time to go, “Wow.” And I think that’s something we can all benefit from doing a little more. No matter what your path and your journey, take a step back and look at where you were and where you are today? You might find that there is a lot more to be grateful about then there is to be concerned about. If there is a lot more concern and trouble, then you might need to consider that path?

So, today, think about how great things are? Examine how wonderful life can be when you follow your path?

I hope you find whatever you’re looking for. Have the day you want.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain