It’s hard to be human. We’re always messing up, making mistakes, offending and being offended. How do we stop feeling angry and bitter about the painful things that happen to us and deal with people who hurt us? How can we live with regrets and failures and attain peace of mind? The answer: choose forgiveness.
Genuine, heart-felt forgiveness produces personal well-being, improved relationships, growth and learning. It lightens our burdens, cleanses our hearts, and liberates us from what may feel like a personal prison. Choosing to forgive is an important first step, but deeply and emotionally forgiving a hurtful event takes the power of 4Cs: Connections, Courage, Compassion, and Creativity.
In Being Human is Hard: Choose Forgiveness, Dr. Chris Heacock, research psychologist and educator, explains the 4Cs through compelling stories from people with diverse backgrounds and spiritual beliefs who forgave painful offenses, from murder, torture, and racial injustice to hurtful experiences with family, friends and employers. She combines research from the social sciences with the wisdom of the world’s religions and her own personal experience to illuminate the transformative process of moving from victim to forgiveness hero. She interviews people from the spiritual backgrounds of Agnosticism, Bahia, Buddhist philosophy and spiritualism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Lakota belief in Sacred Pipe and Red Road, Shirdi Baba follower, Syncretism (meaning the combination of different forms of belief), and Tibetan Buddhism.
One story from Christy Heacock’s book is featured on this website. Read Rose’s powerful story of forgiveness here and learn how Lakota spirituality guided her journey. You can purchase the book here to read all the diverse stories of forgiveness from the perspectives of people with different sacred belief systems.
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Choose Forgiveness 