Saving the M and caring for a baby

[workinghardguy]

Forgiveness is something you give yourself, not something you give to the other person. A lesson I used to teach to kids at a boot camp went like this...

They were all resentful and angry about something in their past and at someone in their lives. Whether right or wrong they felt wronged and were constantly angry young men and women.

But that anger and resentment is like a 50 pound rucksack that they would put on every morning when they got out of bed. They'd carry that rucksack around with them all day, everywhere they went. When something would remind them of how they were wronged they'd add a rock or two to their rucksack. By the end of the day this metaphorical rucksack now weighed 100 pounds.

When the lights went out and they fell asleep they finally got to put their rucksack down. But guess who was waiting for them first thing in the morning?

So I would invite them to just put their rucksack down. Leave it down. Leave it behind. The person who wronged you isn't walking around thinking about you or how they hurt you. They don't have a rucksack they're carrying... instead you're carrying it for the both of you. Just stop. Let it go. Unburden yourself. Do it for you.