State of Mind

[BeingMe]

I have to agree with both of you, Wii and FA! I don't see any problem with a little kindness, while still maintaining boundaries. Forgiveness is more for the wronged person ... helps us move on past the bitterness and anger. I see little point in holding a grudge, or constantly throwing someone's past wrongs (or even the present ones) into their faces. And, this is something I learned during this recent journey. I have a family who loves to hold grudges ... my older sister can remember stuff I did when I was a kid, that she still feels so hurt by (and it was usually reactionary stuff, where I just reacted to something she said or did without thinking ... the young do that sometimes). Just such a downer. How can one, anyway, truly cut yourself off from someone who is the parent of your children, and who you vowed to love? We do not have to mirror their behaviour, and maybe by being kind, and making changes within ourselves, they will find it in their hearts to do the same.

Love the quote, FA .... so true! Here's another:

Reinhold Niebuhr wrote:

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.