Instead of Dealing with the Pain, What if You Forgave

When you deal with pain, the last thing you want to do is help someone else. You would rather sit in the corner and, like a wounded animal and viciously attack anyone who comes too close.

What if you did the opposite? What if you helped someone else in need?

In 1931, Winston Churchill was struck crossing the street by a car on a trip to New York City. A witness explained he was sure Churchill had been killed.

When Churchill spoke to the police, he explained it was his fault and not the driver. Surprisingly, the driver came to visit Churchill in the hospital. Upon hearing that the driver was out of work, Churchill tried to offer the driver money.

Churchill wrote about the near-death experience, “Nature is merciful, and does not try her children, man or beast, beyond their compass. It is only where the cruelty of man intervenes that hellish torments appear. For the rest—live dangerously; take things as they come; dread naught, all will be well.”

What does it mean when you can override your nature and decide to forgive not because you’re counseled but because it is right?

What if you adopted that mindset as your philosophy of life? What if most men, women, and children adopted that mindset? Instead of a world peppered with dogmatism, could we season the world with tolerance?