Last week I wrote about kindness and personal responsibility, something which I am trying to actively work on in my own life.
Something else I'm trying to work on is forgiveness. It's really easy to read a lot of books on the subject and intellectualize it but actually practicing it when things get tough is what really counts.
One of my favourite authors, Marianne Williamson said something that I've always loved- " Anytime you try to be a loving person, you're doing your part to save the world" I love how she says "your part" and puts the importance back on us.
I feel like the most important part of all of this is playing an active role in creating the changes that we want to see, and forgiveness can be a massive hurdle (I know it is for me). It's easy to read books about kindness and forgiveness and feel inspired but what about when someone annoys us or acts in an unkind way towards us? It's how we put the ideas into practice in our daily lives that really matters and makes all the difference.
There's a cool new project with Johnnie Walker and Spencer Tunick called Keep Walking Columbia and the people involved have taken forgiveness and a sense of moving forward to a whole new level.
Spencer flew to Columbia to photograph hundreds of people who have been affected by the civil war there (one of the longest running in history, although majorly overlooked by the media). Everyone came together to pose for one of his famous nude photos, the idea being that by coming together in a vulnerable state, everyone is on the same page and can be on the same level.
He featured people from both sides of the conflict, many of whom had at one point, fought against each other and were now taking part in a project to promote unity, forgiveness and creating a more peaceful
What first struck me when I watched the movie was just how much these people had chosen to overcome for the sake of creating a more peaceful future, how often do we hold resentment about things which really aren't that important? I know I regularly do it myself and it's only when I look back and reflect that I can see how that it really isn't worth it.
A lady I follow on face book, Alafia, posted a quote that said "Nothing that costs you your inner peace is worth it" This and the quote from Marianne Williamson are really spot on when it comes to making forgiveness a part of your life- it simply isn't worth it to hold onto things and let them steal your joy or take away your peace.
I'm not arrogant enough to say it's easy or that I've any where near mastered it but I do know that when I have worked on letting something go, it feels better and my life improves.
If working on forgiveness means that I'm doing my part, then I'm in
Here is a behind the scenes look at the movie I was talking about and the inspiring people who took part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFtaVzy70aQ&feature=youtu.be