Forgiveness

I know sometimes it is hard to let go of anger, as we may feel justified in our reasons for hanging onto it.

Five years ago, I scratched my cornea and my eye became infected. I had called my eye doctor twice to tell him I was having difficulty seeing. He dismissed my concerns. As I had an undiagnosed genetic immune disorder, no one could have predicted how quickly and how much damage was created by the infection. By the time he took my concerns seriously and the proper diagnosis was reached, I had so much scarring from the damage from the infection that I lost most of the site in that eye. Needless to say, I was devastated. 

I was so angry with my doctor and then myself. I was also having a reaction to the viral medication that left me sick and slightly nuts. It took me awhile to let go of my anger towards him. 

I was reminded of a paraphrase from Buddha, "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

By letting go of the anger, I was able to start healing. Forgiving someone is for YOU….it doesn’t mean they are being “let off the hook” or that their behavior was okay. Forgiveness is a gift for yourself. 

If you are holding onto anger, then you are wasting energy that your body needs for healing. The most important state for your body is the relaxation state. This is your optimum healing state.

The good news is that after six months of focused healing , I had a near miraculous recovery. My new eye doctors had never seen someone return to almost original site from so much damage. 

Who do you need to forgive? What do you need to let go of?