It was nearly 10 PM when I arrived home. Just then an acquaintance contacted me and falsely accused me of being offensive to him in a public setting.
So I sat down on my front porch to process this late breaking tale. My youngest son sat down in the chair next to mine. He wanted to talk since he had not seen me for over 12 hours. He spoke but I wasn’t really listening. So he politely said, “I’ll just go inside now.”
Essentially what he meant was “You’re obviously not paying attention to me. So I might as well leave, since my presence is making no difference here. You’re physically here but not mentally present.”
Ouch! He was right. I had to make a choice. I could prioritize my relationship with my son and enjoy his company or I exalt my pity party and ignore him. So I quickly dismissed the false accusation, and planned to address it at another less inconvenient time.
My commitment to forgiveness allowed me to focus on my true priorities. We only possess so much time and energy and we must choose to invest in our true priorities, instead of waste our time, resources and opportunities to connect with our family and friends on things that do not really matter or add value to our lives.
Forgiving others helps us redeem our time and make the most out of our lives.
GROUP DISCUSSION
- Who is distracting you from your real priorities?
- What tense relationship do you need to compartmentalize to stop allowing it to ravage your mind and steal your time?
- What or who do you need to address, in order to put your life in order?
- When will you do it?
- Who will support and hold you accountable to follow through?
- What will you do with the time and energy you’re no longer wasting?
ikevinthomas - Relevant Reading Experiences 