Early morning thoughts
09 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
I realize that as I am typing this that it isn’t so early morning. But, when I woke up at 3AM and couldn’t get back to sleep, it was. And, that is where this originates. In the wee morning hours of tossing and turning…
As I was laying there, my mind drifted to the topic of forgiveness. Is it something I need to do more of? Probably. I say that not because I can say something happened two days ago that made me mad, but because there are always things creeping up from the past to which I need to apply it. You know… those situations that you haven’t thought about in weeks, months, years, etc. and then something reminds you of it and before you know it you’re angry all over again? Yep, I have plenty of those.
But, how do I let forgive? How do I let it go? Well, I can thank Andy Stanley for giving me a tip on this. I write it down. I (sometimes) write down a summary of what happened and then I make a list of who I need to forgive in the situation. I put down of what I am forgiving each person. If you think about it, this makes sense, because my anger is saying, “He/she/they owe me,” and this allows me to know what debt I am canceling. In all truth, this is usually as far as I go and what I’ve written is normally in my journal when I do this. But, Andy Stanley also suggests that you can burn or bury the paper.
So, why do I go through all the writing trouble? So that it serves as a reminder. The next time that situation comes to my mind, my temptation and habit will be to, once again, get angry. But, now, when I start to get angry at the person(s) again, I can stop myself and remember, “Oh wait… I forgave them. I don’t need to get angry about this.”
In all truth, this is difficult to do. It is a process. I might have to stop myself hundred times when I think of the situation again to keep myself from getting angry, but it just serves to remind me that I am still working through the pain. Forgiveness and then healing… eventually, I get to the point where I can think of what happened without being struck with the anger.
Anyhow… I think that’s it for now. If you are interested in reading a little about what I mentioned above about the Andy Stanley teaching, it is mentioned on this website. A Mayo clinic website had some interesting information of how “letting go” makes a physical difference on our health, too. I knew it could make differences on blood pressure, but I didn’t realize that it could lead to fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. Wow!
