Quote of the Day: "Forgiveness - I must forgive injuries, not just in words, or as a matter of form, but in my heart. I do this not for the other persons’ sake, but for my own sake. Resentment, anger, or a desire to see someone punished, are things that rot my soul. Such things fasten my troubles to me with chains. They tie me to other problems that have nothing to do with my original problem."
Daily Reflections, p. 88
So many of us come into the program with so many wounds (physical, emotional and spiritual) that our perception of the world is jaded through a prism of anger and resentment. We held onto our “justified” anger like a badge of courage, having no idea that it was killing us, not them! Slowly, we began to trust and interact with others in a healthy way. Our transformation can take months or years, but it is worth the wait and work. How blessed we are to have a program that helps us identify and mitigate our anger and resentments. We have learned that we need to fully forgive, including ourselves, or we will be bound by chains to our negative emotions that are ultimately eroding our souls. It was so freeing, through the teachings of the fellowship, to realize that forgiving is not condoning the behavior; it is just clearing the cancerous hate from your heart. A very wise old timer once told me, “Tonight, before you go to bed, mentally forgive every person that has hurt you in the past.” It is liberating to let go of our anger and hate, and we owe it to ourselves to give it a try. 