4.25.2011

happy monday [ i & i ]

inspiration:
One of my absolute favorite pieces of inspiration, a poem by Mother Theresa:

The Final Analysis
 People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

idea: 
i forgive you for calling me an "ugly duckling"
 forgive
Forgiving another person takes a lot of courage, but it makes you happier for letting go of those feelings by increasing positive thoughts and actions and letting go of resentment, revenge and anger. By forgiving you are not required to excuse, ignore, or pardon, rather it is an artistic talent of bringing happiness into your life. There are a few things that I like to do that have helped me move forward in my life:

one- develop an understanding and empathetic perspective. By doing this you build skills that allow you to understand the perspectives of others and better understand the person who hurt you.
two- craft a mantra that can be used to help you grow and release negative thoughts through more positive thoughts. 
For example: 
I give & receive love in all situations
I spend my thoughts on positive emotions
I look for the good in all people & circumstances
I am healthy, happy & free
three- write a letter about your feelings to the person you are trying to forgive (this is my favorite thing to do). If the relationship is important share these feelings with that individual. If the relationship is not worth repairing, and serves you no benefit, use the letter as an opportunity to release your feelings and allow yourself to move on. You can throw the letter away or burn it up if you're felling really powerful!
four- reflect on a time that you have been forgiven. What was the outcome? How did you grow? What did you learn? How did you feel mentally?
 five- imagine what your life would look like if you forgave someone who has done wrong unto you. What would change? How would you feel mentally? What knowledge & skills would you gain? What would forgiving them look like?
 six- journal about your feelings and emotions and how you have chosen to move on from it. This experience may help you in the future and help you get to know yourself better. As you move forward in life you can look back at your thoughts and have concrete evidence as to how much you have grown. Remember when you were angry at someone for hurting you in high school and you wrote out your feelings either in your diary or in a note? Then in college or post high school you looked back at that and couldn't believe that you would say those things or think that way? Yea, it's like that.

People do wrong. People make mistakes. People hurt for no reason. Forgive them anyway. 

We grow incredible amounts every day. Take every opportunity to accelerate your growth and expand your knowledge, skills and experiences and get happier.

 Be fearless, fabulous & free,

 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Brittany!
    I started reading your blog recently, and I just wanted to let you know how fabulous and inspiring it is! I loved this post, especially. The poem is beautiful. Thanks for all the inspiration!

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  2. I found you via Gala Darling and I love what you have to say about forgiveness. It made me realize how much I needed to hear this. I cut ties with a negative friend about a year ago and though I have mostly moved on with my life, I still have some lingering resentments. I can't wait to go through these steps and be free!

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