On Forgiveness.

This post was originally written several years ago when the topic of forgiveness was at the forefront of my life. I thought I would share what I wrote then.

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What do you think is required for forgiveness to take place? If you need to forgive someone, does the person need to know you are forgiving them? What if you need to forgive someone for something that they don't even know they did? Do you think that in order for forgiveness to be complete it must be between you and that person or do you think that simply making a vow of forgiveness between you and God is enough?

This whole idea of forgiveness has been on my mind lately. I've learned over the last little while that forgiveness is not something that you feel, it is a pivotal choice that one must make. It is a fork in the road, a point you come to where you must decide to live with the hurt and the pain or to move on and not let it control you anymore. I have learned that forgiveness is the most freeing of choices, it allows you to let go of things that have been holding you captive and to love people that you would otherwise be bitter toward.

The other thing about forgiveness is this... you can't be proud and still forgive. You must humble yourself and realize that the issue is not about what someone has done to you, but the issue is about what is going inside your heart and that the healing begins with you, not with the person saying sorry. It's difficult to come to the point of realization that you must forgive no matter how much someone "owes" you an apology and whether or not you ever receive that apology.

I think of Jesus on the cross, asking God to forgive the men who hung Him there. That is the perfect example of forgiveness. Jesus showed us that forgiveness is not about the attitude of the one whom we are forgiving but that it begins with us.

I have come to realize that unforgiveness is not only a burden that we carry around with us day in and day out but it is also a spiritual epidemic that prevents us from worshipping God fully and prevents us from receiving the full blessings of God in our lives. If you think about it, those who refuse to forgive are the walking wounded, they live the life of a victim, rather than the life of freedom that God calls us to.

Forgiveness is something that we are taught at a young age, but it's something that very few people practice in their life. Why is that?

Just my two cents.

Time Lapse

It's been a long time since I have thought about, let alone visited this blog.

Lately I have found myself reading more and more blogs. Blogs about food, blogs about home decor, blogs about life... and I have found that its really easy to get lost in a blog. I love reading about other people's experiences, their thoughts, and getting great ideas for my own life based on recommendation from others. I find blogs a great way to get inspiration.

This had driven me to begin thinking about blogging again. I have tried blogging a few times and have given up. I think I put too much pressure on myself to blog every day and expected tons of followers and comments right away.

Anything I have read about blogging is that starting up takes time and that you can't have high expectations, not on yourself and on readership. So maybe I need to just change my expectations and start blogging for me and forget about the rest.

I think blogging will be a good way to keep track of life, to push me to try new recipes, take more photos, put my thoughts down on paper, and keep myself disciplined to write. All of the above things are goals that I would like to attain and things that hold great importance to me.

So, I am thinking I might try to blog again and just see how it goes. Take off any pressure and just do this for me as a way to reach some personal goals. I think this is the right perspective.

So, my question is: Am I the only one who loves blogs? What kinds of blogs do people like to read? What are the motivations of people starting blogs?

And most importantly,

If I blog and no one reads it, is it still valuable and worth my time?

I think so.