1.5
June 7, 2010

Forgive, Accept, Move on.

Let’s Get Together and Feel Alright.

Some people confuse acceptance with apathy, but there’s all the difference in the world. Apathy fails to distinguish between what can and what cannot be helped; acceptance makes that distinction. Apathy paralyzes the will-to-action; acceptance frees it by relieving it of impossible burdens.”

~ Arthur Gordon

“You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.”

~ Lewis B. Smedes, from Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve

We are all in this together.

All of it. Everyday. How we treat ourselves effects how we treat others and vice versa. How we treat those around us moves out into the great wide world. Every thought and action contributes to how the world works. And every person out there is just that a person, with fears and judgments and misunderstanding and loads of potential.

I am prone to standing on soap boxes (produced from post consumer waste of course) to hollering about injustice and what I perceive as gross negligence. I am often quick to let everyone know why what was done wasn’t in the best interest of everyone…it’s a delightful quirk of mine. At the same time I will be the first to tell you that we are all divine, each a part of the infinite perfection and therefore inherently deserving of love and compassion.

This awareness is sometimes in direct conflict with the anger that emerges when I see pictures of the gulf oil spill, when my son is forced to get a vaccine, when my grandson’s doctor puts him on a soy formula, when someone says something insensitive—there are a lot of things that get my ire up and yet, yet I am working on non-judgment, coming from that place of understanding, acceptance and forgiveness.

And I am coming to realize that this is what makes family, creates community. The first step is accepting where people are, then having the strength to forgive and then finding a way to move forward. Sounds easy right?? I know, I know it isn’t that easy in practice all the time.
But it is an incredible practice. One that does get easier with time. Today I wonder what small act of acceptance we could each do?

What is your area of letting go of control, work on forgiveness?

Whatever your area of focus we can all work towards a stronger healthier community on the small and large scale by getting together and recognizing what we do to one is done to all…so like our little monkey friends…you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours and we will all feel better!

Yoga pose of the week: Urdhva Dhanurasana

Utilize this deep backbend to invigorate and inspire you. It opens the heart allowing healing, forgiveness and hope to flow freely – it also wakes you up helping you have the energy to accept and move forward.

Wellness tip of the week

Healthy is not just a physical state of being. I might even argue that there is no physical well being without mental and spiritual well being. (I can argue a lot) So this week create personal health by helping to create community health. This can come in the form of an Adopt a Highway , community projects or in some way taking your yoga Off The Mat and Into The World. Want to scale it back…how about bring fitness to your work place? If you are in HR or a “boss” or just a concerned worker talk to your HR department about contacting a local yoga studio for some lunch hour onsite classes. One of the studios I work for. Zenergy Yoga, offers just that. Check it out, help yourself by helping others and your wellness will multiple.

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Aminda R. Courtwright  |  Contribution: 9,785