The Tiny Pine

 My thankfulness today is about forgiveness.   I have had my battles with it over the years,  first with Mama and Daddy and then later in marriage.

It is amazing how many of us carry the original reason for a person needing forgiveness around with us,  in our daily lives. 

I was given this lesson a few years ago and want to share it with all of you because it is within our power,  to free ourselves....

The Tiny Pine .. Sept 09

 It was a crisp day with the sun shining just the way I like it, when I started on my early morning walk. The  long dirt driveway that I walk is just the size of one automobile  and filled on both sides overflowing,  with all types of trees and plants. The palms are just amazing. They always sway in the wind like large fans and the pines are so tall that you have to really look up to see the tip tops. 

I was walking along dodging the holes in the road, when I saw the tiniest pine tree on the side of the road. It was encased in vines and being held down to the ground. It had already turned brown on the side away from the sun, and I could see that it would not last long in that condition. 

I started pulling the vines away and it was amazing the transformation in that tiny tree. It immediately sprang up and stretched out its pine needles to the sun,  It was still bent some but it had just been given it a new chance at life. 

That hit me like a thunderbolt, that we live our lives ensconced in vines and we need to free ourselves if we are going to live fully and be nurtured by the people around us. 

When we carry anger of a person"s transgression against us around, it is like those vines pulling us away from all that we can be. It keeps us from accepting the warmth of the light to nourish and feed us. 

It took me so many years to forgive my Mama and Daddy and all of that took a toll on me and my body. When I learned to ask forgiveness for my part in any wrong doing and to give forgiveness to those even if they don't ask,  I started to heal. 

Forgiveness is not for the other person. It is for us. We don't have to pal around with the person or be best friends, but we don't have to carry them into our tomorrow either because that gives them some control over our present. 

I forgave my Mother for leaving. I was able to see it through her eyes and know that she did the best that she could. 

I forgave my Daddy for drinking and being less a man than he could have been. I was able to see his struggle to take care of his children and provide for 6 children alone.

But the big one is that I forgave myself for putting my needs before my children. I could see myself,  the child,  wanting to be loved at all costs. It was human and I was human and that was ok. 

 

My sincere wish is that all of us can rid ourselves of those clinging vines that suck the life out of us. That way we can live fully,  without beating ourselves up because we are human. 

I am so grateful that I was given this lesson of forgiveness because it freed me,  just like that tiny tree. 

I love you all so much and pray that you will be able to forgive others and yourself, just as we are forgiven,   so that your heart and mind are free.... Love and light, Kimmee

(Google images)