Forgiveness 

by Kimberlee Otto

Forgiveness is one of the most amazing tools of the mind that I have come across. 

Often things go wrong in life.  Most think "forgive and forget", go on with my life as if this never happened.  This is exactly the opposite of what forgiveness really is.  Forgiveness is holding your attention on a situation or person long enough to find the good in the situation and gain the learning that lies there in. 

When a person can see the good in a situation then they can also see how the situation has benefitted them.  For instance, say you get fired from your job.  At first glance this could be a devastating situation.  Let's keep our attention here for a few more minutes.  Now, a new better paying job has opened up for you and it provides a company car.  From this vantage point, getting fired doesn’t seem so bad, in fact it was a good thing.  It freed you up to accept this new position. 

Holding one's attention on a situation long enough to find the good opens up the opportunity for any person to learn something from that situation.  The purpose of our existence is to learn and grow, forgiveness one of the keys to fulfilling that purpose.

There is another way to see forgiveness.  It is not just for bad situations or times where pain or hurt was caused.  This ability to continue to give attention to something can be used for positive situations as well.  Take the job example again, this time you keep your job and in addition you want a promotion.  Giving your attention and time to seeing the ways that you could learn new skills, be more efficient with your time or energy is another form of forgiveness.  This is the positive thinker's brand of forgiveness.