Hello Natural Health Family. This post might be the start of a series of similar posts but we will see how this one goes. Today we are going to talk about the two emotions of prejudice and forgiveness. These emotions are the same but varying in degree. When we use these with reason we can allow ourselves to be free of being attached to a certain person or event that may be draining our energy leading to lack of health.
Prejudice may be defined as premature judgement, bias, often grounded on sentiment, ideas, or associations. Many times when people think of prejudice they think of the intense racism or violence happening in the world. However, prejudice can be similar to intolerance. When one of these is used constantly, then can we find that it starts to grow the more intense nature of resentment, anger and hate. Premature judgement means that when others express views or opinions that are not the same as somebody else they quickly without reason judge that person. This creates an atmosphere of closed mindedness and failure for others to express themselves. Just think of all the ideas and associations that we were taught as kids to follow. This shows that many of our ideas will be different than others particularly because the way we were all brought up as kids. We all see things differently and no two people see the same thing the same way even if you are raised in the same family. When considering someone else’s point of view we must view it with an open mind and choose to accept it or not based on our current understanding or other evidence. Prejudice is not all in all bad but must be used with reason to allow others to voice their ideas. Openly accepting everything that is said may also lead to problems. When we use prejudice in excess or intolerance to people and ourselves, this leads to further condemnation leading us to feel guilt and shame. This can also lead us into states of anxiety or depression which may cause ourselves to become ill. When we realize that condemnation without investigation is a mark of ignorance we will be slow to judge and offer others our unbiased attention.
Forgiveness may be seen as the opposite of prejudice. When we are quick to judge with a prejudiced lens than you could say forgiveness allows us to let go of the judgement we have put on people and see them as one of our brothers or sisters on this earth. When others make offenses on us which at the time seems unforgivable we then are charged with a feeling of revenge toward the other. However, revenge can be seen to act like a boomerang where as we seek to get back at someone else through thought, word or deed then it comes back to us. Forgiveness is not only beneficial in regards to others but also ourselves. Many times we condemn ourselves for a wrong doing either towards someone else or even towards ourselves for not meeting our current standard. This decreases our own energy and can bring illness and dis-ease.The phrase “those of you who are free from sin, throw the first stone,” shows that we are all human and everyone makes mistakes. However, when we practice true forgiveness, our intention is to not make the same mistake again and take the higher road. True forgiveness is when we can remember something we have done but have no emotional charge associated with it, meaning we stop giving our energy to that person or event and liberate ourselves allowing us to place our energy towards something more productive. When we free ourselves from the chains of guilt, shame, prejudice, etc. by using forgiveness, then we can accumulate more energy for our own health and livelihood.
There may be grave happenings in the world now that might seem impossible to forgive and for those instances need justice to neutralize the faults. Nonetheless, our personal lives offer opportunities to practice forgiveness for ourselves and others. It may not be easy but many things worth doing are not easy. I am grateful for all who read this post.
