Frame it in Forgiveness

You can tell that it is my turn to teach Relief Society because I am organizing my thoughts by way of a post. I am having mixed thoughts about what I want to teach. A little bit of faith, a little bit of happiness, and a little bit of forgiveness. Well I came upon the perfect way to combine those subjects. AGENCY! All of these things, and many others, are a choice. We ALWAYS have a choice. I used to get into such interesting discussions with my sixth grade students about this. They would say that their parents made them come to school... no choice about it. But I would remind them that they had chosen to obey. At any rate I came upon the most wonderful article in the Ensign. It is called "Anticipating the need to FORGIVE". It is written by a mental health professional, so you know I was interested right away. If we were bitten by a snake, of course we would seek immediate medical attention. We wouldn't chase the snake to get revenge. We all know this in advance. So why not apply this same decision making process to the people in our lives that do and say things that we might need to forgive. If we anticipate that we are going to forgive ahead of time, we are spared all of that pain and unnecessary suffering. I would guess that 99.75% of the time when we are hurt or offended, or injured, there was NO INTENT for us to be hurt. We were hurt because we are sensitive or tender about certain things. IT IS ALL ABOUT MOTIVE. Generally people do NOT intend to hurt. SO why the fuss? According to the article, we can "screen out the negativism, the hurt feelings, the offenses. We can see people based on INTENT--giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming their good intent (one exception to breaking "The Four Agreements" no assumptions rule). Sometimes when we feel hurt, offended, or frustrated, we frame what we see much like a frame around a photo. Forgiveness allows us to frame people and interactions differently." Framing forgiveness around others, and our self, makes life's journey much smoother. Try it! Being generous with others helps us to deserve the generosity of others, for the many thoughtless things WE do and say.