My New Year's Resolution

I'm currently in the middle of reading Gary Chapman's book The Five Love Languages. Many of you have probably heard of it because it's been out for two and a half decades, but I only recently came across a copy and decided to see what it had to offer. I'm really enjoying the book. It has a lot of valuable information. There's a great passage that really stood out to me earlier this evening as I was reading. It is as follows.

"I am amazed by how many individuals mess up every new day with yesterday. They insist on bringing into today the failures of yesterday and in so doing, they pollute a potentially wonderful day."

In the context of the book, Chapman is talking about forgiveness. If you and your lover got into a fight yesterday, and you remain angry about it today, and you allow this anger to be reflected in your words and actions today, then you allow the events of yesterday to pollute today, which otherwise could have been a wonderful day.

In IIH, Bardon repeatedly emphasizes the importance of centering your awareness on the present moment. If you refuse to forgive people, your mind is captured by the negative events of the past. Clearly, if this is the case, you are not centered on the present. Forgiveness allows you to let go of the past so that you can remain in the present or, as Bardon calls it, the "Great Now." In the present, you can act. You can get stuff done. You can find solutions to problems to ensure that they do not continue to bother you in the future. However, if you refuse to forgive - if you allow the negative events of the past to trap your awareness in the past - you will never be able to solve your problems because that involves doing things, and it is only possible to do things in the present.

My New Year's resolution is to forgive more. The more I contemplate the idea of forgiveness, the more I realize what a powerful key it is to unlocking joy, magic, and power.

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