Home

30 Days of Truth: Day 4

January 4, 2011 4 Comments

Something you have to forgive someone for.

I might need to look up the definition for forgive for this one.

While there are people who can cause me to outwardly show signs of contempt when I think about them, I’m not quite sure that means I haven’t forgiven them.

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire™ and lots of people related to him come to mind. But remembering and being repulsed at the thought of their existence is not necessarily a result of my inability to forgive. It’s a defense mechanism. It’s how people in bad relationships get out and stay out.

They remember.

They associate that yucky unpleasantness with a mental image of the asshat so that they aren’t destined to repeat their mistakes. Then they stay away.

So maybe I still need to forgive my ex for his disrespect, and maybe I don’t. I’m not ready to tackle that one, and I don’t feel the need to at this point.

Aside from the whole marriage debacle, I don’t really feel like anyone’s done me all that wrong. People are just people. Yeah, I was picked on in grade school like everyone else. People have lied to me, been rude to me, and manipulated me. But those are moments, incidents. Just people trying to make their way through the world without an instruction manual—that’s how I see it. It’s rarely a habitual problem from the same person, and when it is? Well, I find divorce works really well.

30 Days of Truth Index

Odds & Ends

About Emily Suess

Emily Suess is a freelance marketing copywriter in Indianapolis, Indiana and a regular contributor at Small Business Bonfire.
View all posts by Emily Suess →
  • Bonnie

    In seminary, we read a fascinating book called The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal, which was a collection of people from different faith traditions responding to one incident that the author experienced during WWII. The first part of the book told the story, and the second part contained responses to the question, “What would you have done in the same situation?” It was fascinating. Some people said that it was immoral to forgive, and others said they would forgive because it made themselves better people. The book has stuck with me.

  • 30ish Mama

    I think forgiveness is very personal and so delicate. I love the quote, it is so true!

  • http://thirtyandawesome.blogspot.com/ Richard

    Yeah, but being a person doesn’t mean that they’re always going to do you wrong.

  • Pingback: 30 Days of Truth Starts Tomorrow | Suess's Pieces