Forgiveness

Brandon's picture
Submitted by Brandon on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 3:13pm.
<!--StartFragment-->

            When I sat down to do this activity I came to two wonderful realizations. The first was that I realized I don’t really hold grudges (which I’d like to think is a good thing). Number two is that I need to start viewing my self as much more fortunate then previously thought, due to the fact that I don’t really have that many people in my life that need forgiving (on the grand scale this assignment seems to be referring to).

            As I began to reflect on whom I might want to try this forgiveness exercise out on I found it extremely hard to pick anyone at all. I suppose this means I’ve been really blessed throughout my life. When I tried to think of people that had transgressed upon me in some way or another the types of situation I came up with were so minor that I realized I had gone through this forgiveness process almost instantly.

            For example: Last week when I was closing down the restaurant I work at I ask a cretin member of our staff to make sure that the bathrooms got cleaned before he left. I told him I didn’t care if he had some one else do it just as long as it got done.  Right before I was about to shut off all the lights the owner informed me that it appeared that the bathrooms had not been cleaned. This ment that I would need to clean the bathrooms on top of all the other work I had just done.

            While I was cleaning the bathrooms I was upset that what I had asked of my co-worker had been ignored. By the time I got home, made a drink, and sat down to enjoy it my frustration with the situation had vanished. The next day I saw the co-worker who had ignored his duties and made mention of the fact that it wasn’t that big of a deal but that from now on I’d be checking to make sure that these types of things were done before he could leave. After that he apologized and I can’t say I’ve thought about the incident until now.  

            Life is full of little transgressions like I mentioned above. I think its safe to say that for instances such as these the forgiveness process is fairly quick and painless. There have been times in my life where I have had to struggle with forgiveness where the act I was being ask to forgive was something much more sever then forgetting to clean a bathroom. Fortunately for me all those instances were years ago. I really enjoyed this activity, it helped me to gain a much clearer understanding of the process of forgiveness and as I said before it allowed me to realize how fortunate I’ve been.      

<!--EndFragment-->

Submitted by Adam on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 11:18am.

Hey Brandon,

from everything I've observed of your interactions with others, what you wrote makes sense.  You strike me as very high on the 'unruffle-able factor' which, coupled with your high intelligence and charming nature- has success in life written all over it.  It's been great getting to know you,  we should go for some taco truck burritoes sometime in the near future.  

-Adam
Submitted by Delwin on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 7:06am.

I believe that it is a blessing to not carry grudges. What a waste of energy eh? Your example of your co-worker for example could have escalated into a “push me shove you” thing making work unpleasant for both of you. My hats off to you teamwork is so important in restaurants.

Delwin

Sandy's picture
Submitted by Sandy on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 2:57am.

Brandon,

Okay, I can't help myself.  I have to mention your "freudian slip".  Was this certain person really a cretin? :) 
It seems like you have good way of going about life, forgiving most things right away.  I pretty much do that, and it makes for less stress.  What I noticed was that you maturely and gently confronted this individual at the next opportunity.  I believe that many times people hold onto anger because they are afraid of talking to the person who has offended because they might seem mean, or they really don't know how to without flying off the handle and blaming.  You stood up for yourself and made it "safe" for the person by bringing up the subject, telling him you weren't holding against him, and clearly letting him know your expectations.  In other words, you gave him a second chance.  We all need that now and then.


Brandon's picture
Submitted by Brandon on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 12:54pm.
Oh man you are completely right. No my co-worker is not a cretin. To be honest he's a really nice guy. Thanks for the kind words about my both of my post.