Forgiveness

To forgive means taking a person as they are – strengths and flaws. 

It means not clinging to past hurts or resentments caused by someone. 

It is about accepting the imperfections of a person.

Forgiveness can be hard.

To be able to truly forgive, however, you must forgive yourself first. 

To forgive means taking me as I am – strengths and flaws.

It means not clinging to the past hurts or resentments I’ve caused someone.

It is about accepting my imperfections.

Takes a bit of a different tone, doesn’t it?  Forgiveness can be hard, really hard.  The best things in life never come easy.  However, there are few things more beautiful and few ways to live more peacefully than to be able to give and receive forgiveness. 

To give forgiveness, you must know forgiveness and to know forgiveness, you must accept it yourself, from yourself first.

There is only One person that has ever walked this Earth that has had no imperfections and although people have tried to play that role throughout history – including all of us in some way – no one ever has or ever will come close.  Yet the One with no imperfections is constantly forgiving us. 

Take some time to forgive today.  Start with yourself, even if it is something small to begin with. 

Besides, it is arrogant of us not to forgive ourselves when God already has.

Mountains and Valleys

To climb a mountain, you must start in a valley. 

I’ve been in a valley lately, but I’m alright with it.

Simply put, life is like that.  Cliché, yes, yet true at the same time. 

I had a very good friend say to me just the other day –

“Better is always good.  Without the worst, we wouldn’t know better.”

I truly believe that and I also believe that God has us exactly where we need to be, because God doesn’t make mistakes.  Sometimes, that takes a lot of faith and even questioning, but that’s okay.  I’ve also come to find through this journey that what we want and what we need are often two entirely different things.  It may take some time to recognize this, but He knows what He is doing.

It’s when I think I have all the answers that I find myself trying to dig deeper in the valley as opposed to trying to begin to ascend the mountain.  I’ve found it better to throw away the shovel, let go and let God. 

No one can climb a mountain alone.  Friends, teammates and a support system are a must.  Sometimes, those people are more than willing and even want to be there but don’t even realize you are trying to climb.  It’s important – imperative even – to ask for help along the way.  Sure, it can be scary and it may even take swallowing some pride.  Never feel bad about asking for help, because no one can do it by themselves.   

I’ve been in a valley lately, but it’s okay because I’m looking up at the mountain and beginning to climb.  There are some amazing friends and family that are latched on and ready to climb with me.  Plus, I’ve got the best guide of all in God leading the way. 

And if there is anyone that needs any help out there, don’t be afraid.  Just ask. 

We can climb together.

Impressions

Every day we have the opportunity to touch people that we come across in our lives.  Some of these people are in our lives on a daily basis, some we see every now and again while others we may meet once never to see them a second time.

No matter what category these people fall into, we’ve all been given the chance to touch those people and make a difference in their lives.  We’ve also been given the gift of free will so how we decide to affect others is truly our choice.  Rest assured, no matter who we come in contact with, we will make an impression one way or the other – it’s up to us whether that impression is positive or negative.

Prior to a recent trip, I got my shoes shined up nice and spiffy at the airport.  The gentleman’s name that shines shoes at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina is Horace and if you’ve ever flown out of the US Airways terminal at PTI, I’d put down a pretty good wager that you know who I’m talking about. 

Horace makes an hour and a half commute each day to run his business and help support his family.  He is a great person, does a great job with his work and consistently tells me how blessed he feels that I have become a part of his life - whether I get my shoes shined or not.

I can count on one hand how many times Horace has shined my shoes.  The fact of the matter is that I’m the one who is blessed to have him in my life.

I’m blessed because Horace has a certain way of putting things in perspective.  It is so easy to get caught up in what we have to do the next week, the next day, the next hour that we forget to smile.  From personal experience, I can tell you that Horace doesn’t forget to smile. 

As important as it is to do our best to make a positive impression in lives of other people, no matter how long we may know them, it is just as important to realize the times that people have the same effect on us.  Maybe even more importantly, we need to take the time to be grateful for those encounters.

Horace has taught me a lot in the short time that I’ve known him and I believe we can all learn a few things from him.

-          No matter how many miles you’ve gone in your shoes, there is always room for an extra one

-          It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do what you can to put your best foot forward

-          Strive to learn something about those that you meet because you may just learn something about yourself

-          Never forget to smile when you talk to people because smiling always brightens someone’s day

If you are ever flying out of PTI in Greensboro and you need your shoes shined, I know the perfect guy for the job. 

You’ll come to find that as great a job as Horace does shining your shoes he’ll do an even better job at shining your soul.