Forgive others

I watched a very interesting film recently. It was very random how I stumbled across it and then happened to stumble across it again on Facebook (must be a sign!). Anyway, the short international film begins with two strangers on a plane, talking about their jobs and the conversation leads to them finding out that they both know the same person. When they discover this, another stranger overhears the conversation and reveals that they also know this person. Strangely they realise that all of their interactions with this mutual person involved upsetting or offending him in some way, shape or form. This continues to happen until someone decides to investigate why they would all be on the same plane, as this has to be more than coincidence. After some discussion, they realise that although they had obtained their tickets in different ways i.e winning the raffle or part of work, they realise that it isn't by coincidence that these tickets were bought for them. Finally, the passengers are told by the stewardess that this man that they all know is the pilot of the plane and he has locked himself in the cockpit. I will leave you to find out what happens next.

But, back to the blog! I was thinking this week about forgiveness (or un-forgiveness), which then reminded me of this film. I would like to think of myself as a very friendly and gracious person, however truth be told, I am not always like that. I think about some of the behaviours I used to exhibit as a child like not speaking to people if I lost during a board game, and I see those days as behind, as I am now a mature, good teammate. But every so often, that side of me rears its ugly head, as un-forgiveness can get the best of all. 

When we feel hurt or offended by others and don't deal with it, we end up building it all up inside of us. If it's not dealt with, it will come out in some terrible way. One of the definitions of forgiveness is 'no longer wishing to punish someone'. That can be a huge thing to ask if the offence was very hurtful. However, forgiveness is not something that happens overnight, but a decision that has to be made regularly. 

This means that we need to regularly deal with any hurt we experience and not leave it to build up. Many studies have shown that un-forgiveness can lead to sickness. Un-forgiveness can place stress on our minds and bodies - think about the emotions you feel when you are hurt by somebody. What do you think happens when we replay that hurt over and over again in our minds? We put our minds and bodies under unnecessary stress. We deal with it, we're better for it. I'm downplaying how hard it is, but it's more important that we put things into place to deal with the hurt and frustration we may feel.

Don't let un-forgiveness take you on a plane journey you can't come back from. Deal with hurts and offences and live free.