Forgiveness: A sign of strength or weakness?

I have heard people say that revenge rather than forgiveness is the way to go. Some will even go as far to say that forgiving someone is cowardly, or unmanly, foolish and shows weakness. Don't believe them. Those are the people that want to live in the past and keep everyone else there as well.

For you see, that forgiveness is actually the more, strong, courageous, honorable, mature and spiritual thing to do. When we refuse to forgive another's perceived transgressions all we are doing is continuing to allow those same transgressions to hurt us over and over again. We are literally giving them power to take not only our time and effort but our spirit as well. So then, those that have transgressed against us in the past get the advantage of doing it over and over again.

No, forgiveness is neither weak, cowardly nor foolish. It is what we must do if we are to continue to grow and become the best person we can be and that takes, strength, courage and vision.

We are one or are we?

Of course in the spiritual sense we are in fact one but can we achieve this in the human sense?

For anyone that knows me, I will try to keep this short and simple as I feel that is best and allows people to ponder what I have to say without trying to decipher it. So here goes.
Yes, we can be one in the human sense but we have to get rid of or look past all the things we use to seperate one another. In fact seperation is so impervious to our society that this is why I say we need to start here. I mean other than the obvious (race, creed, sex, religion, nationality, sexual orientation) we do it in sometimes more subtle ways, from what teams we cheer for to what is our favorite color. Our society does its darndest to keep us seperate through labeling and membership in organizations. Don't get me wrong that is where our individuality lies but it is not where our humanity lies!

I am going to give everyone a simple and easy way to get us back to one and that is first looking at each other from the basics and that is first and foremost as human beings. Start there and all the seperation simply melts away. There is really nothing else we need to know about one another! If we simply start here we can create a society that values all its members, a society where harmony, balance and peace are the norm. A society that protects and loves all its citizens. A society where judgement, hate and fear is obsolete.

We can continue to use all those things that seperate us and we will continue to have a fractured society but the one fundamental truth will always remain, waiting to be recognized and acted upon. We are all human beings, period!

Perfection is not the goal!

Why do so many of us seek to be perfect? Do we really think it is attainable or do we just like to stress ourselves out? I guess that seeking perfection is not really bad since it is the seeking of perfection that makes us strive to be or do the best we can do! But we should never think that "perfect" is really what we want to be because if we ever attained perfection where would we go from there?

Now, we can give 100% of the energy we have to try and attain a goal but perfection leaves no room for further growth and the main idea of living a great life is to always to be seeking growth for their is no life without growth. Whether it be physical, mental or spiritual growth, growing is what allows us to live a fulfilled and balanced life.

So truly, growth, not perfection, should always be the goal!

Spiritual or Religious

OK, now for my first post on something spiritual!

First of all keep in mind that I am giving my beliefs and/or opinions here. You may or may not agree with me and that is OK. I am not here to judge anyone and their thoughts/beliefs and that is one way that I believe that I am being spiritual. To me being spiritual means the following:

1. Having a direct and personal relationship with the universe or if you will God, Allah, etc.

2. Taking responsibility for your own spiritual growth.

3. Acceptance and tolerance for other people’s views.

4. Not attempting to convert anyone to your way of thinking.

5. Sharing your thoughts on things in a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental way.

6. Knowing that we are not perfect in this human form. I believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience!

7. Not following any specific religious philosophy but taking the time to try and understand the different religious viewpoints. I have read just about every major religious text currently out there and have discovered that they are all based upon the same principle and that is LOVE!

8. Keeping to my philosophy in one simple statement, "I do not care what you call yourself, just love one another!" It is not the label I am interested in but rather simply in how you treat both yourself and others.

9. Living my life from a position of love not fear.

10. Knowing that I am a compassionate, limitless being, capable of great things and that I am creating my experiences on this earth through my thoughts and actions!

I believe that people who say they are religious still need someone else to either guide them or to who they can look to to forgive them of their "sins". They need a more structured approach with all the ceremony and traditions of a religion and that is OK, as long as they are giving and sharing love and not judging and/or condeming others for their beliefs. I believe that religion is man made and spirituality is a direct connection to the source.

That are my thoughts on this subject. Whether you agree with me or not I would love to hear what you think and will neither judge nor condem you for taking the time to share!

Make it a blessed life! Namaste!

Major Announcement

I have a major announcement!

My new book Rare Sense: One Day It Will Be Common; A Practical Guide to a Fulfilled and Balanced Life is now available through my publisher @ http://www.trafford.com/07-1266. It will also be available through the Amazon and Barnes & Noble web sites in about 6 - 8 weeks. The book will also be available in audio and e-book versions soon. I'll post more on those things as they become available! Also, in the next couple of weeks I will be setting up a membership site.

Now, to continue, I will be using this blog to discuss spiritual and personal growth issues, review books, provide information from interesting articles and web sites, as well as personal growth strategies that I utilize in my Life Coaching business.