One of the most difficult things to do is to forgive. I am not talking about forgiveness on a level of "you lied to me", but what about forgiveness for something truly heinous. How do you forgive that. How do you move on? It is difficult. Jesus never said that his path is easy. It's not. It requires dedication and pushing yourself beyond what you think is necessary and even possible. My decision to forgive was instantaneous but the fall out has lasted years. I visualized telling this person to "burn in hell" my whole life. However, at that moment, when I had the chance to say it, and he was dying, I forgave him. True forgiveness moves beyond what is expected. It moves beyond boundaries. In my head, I had the choice and I chose to pray for him. That day changed my karma. That day moved me beyond the world. Because the world dictates that I should have hated him. Instead, I chose to love him. I chose to see beyond what had happened. I chose to see him as human. His choices were categorically bad, however, I started to consider his childhood. I started to consider how he was hurt. I considered all the people that he didn't hurt. There were many who loved him. Often when I need to forgive someone it is because I am holding on to things that I shouldn't. In order to love others, you have to love what you hate and you have to forgive.

I try to stay in a constant state of positivity, however, it is difficult. I believe that allowing negativity in allows negativity which is a slippery slope to sinning. What I believe about Jesus and sinning is very different from what the church believes. I think the commandments about "loving God" and "loving people" lead to enlightenment and all other commandments flow from that. That is what Jesus said. However, doing it and staying in that mindset for me is sometimes difficult. I am struggling with things in life and while I never doubt God's care, I struggle with other people. How do you love what seems unloveable, whether it is a trait or someone that has done horrible things. I talk about this a lot when I discuss forgiveness. The truth is we are all imperfect. We all struggle. I practice these things in my daily life. Steer clear of talks about division in human, steer clear of negativity as much as I can, I avoid the news, and I truly spend time with God every day.