Here’s some weekly puppy love from me to you, including my thoughts on Forgive and Forget.
“We need lots of love to forgive, and we need lots of humility to forget. Humility completes forgiveness, before we forgive somebody we need to know that we too need forgiveness, and it is here that humility of the heart comes in” – Mother Theresa
So, you might be wondering what puppies have to do with forgive and forget. Well, first off, when they make a mess in the house instead of outside, you might get upset, annoyed, or mad, but eventually (and usually pretty quickly) you’ll get over it and forgive the cute little puppy and forget about it until the next time it happens. Last week, during one of our snowstorms, we didn’t take our puppy out according to her normal schedule, nor did we take her out as much as she’s used to. So, guess what happened…yup, we had a couple of accidents. So, at first, we were wondering what the heck happened to our good little puppy?
After further thought, we realized it was really our fault, not hers, which lead me to think about people, and how hard it is for our human nature to accept responsibility for our mistakes sometimes. It’s much easier to blame the other person.
Personally, I’ve experienced many times in my life when I’ve been disappointed or gotten upset at someone, blaming that person for making me feel bad. It’s sometimes really hard to forgive someone, and sometimes even after you forgive someone, you might get hurt again, and have to forgive them again, and again. Forgiving that person requires love or a decision to love that person. But, forgiving doesn’t mean we have to forget, right? Well, until I read the quote from Mother Theresa, I hadn’t thought about the fact that humility is the answer to being able to forget, that we need to understand that we too need to be forgiven, even when we might not think so.
The last part of that quote really struck me – “we need to understand that we too need to be forgive, even when we might not think so” – because usually when we think someone has wronged us, we think they need to be forgiven, not us. In fact, if we got off our high horse, and tried to think about the needs of the other person before ours, we might realize we had perhaps set too high an expectation for the other person, or said something insensitive, or been less considerate than we should have been. We might have contributed to or even caused the problem. So, we actually need to be forgiven too.
Humility is a tough quality to develop, or to want to work on. It goes against the very grain of what our competitive society rewards. It also often means swallowing our pride and letting someone else “win.” I’m still working on it, and I know it’s going to be a lifelong lesson, but I feel like I’m understanding it more and more as I get older. Interestingly, the more I try to work on humility and put the needs of others before mine, the less I care about what other people think about me, and the more I’m comfortable just being me.
I know this is kind of a heavy post, so with that, I’ll leave you with this sleepy little puppy who was completely zonked after playing outside in the snow this week.
What are your thoughts on forgive and forget?
You might also like to read:
Puppy Love #1
Puppy Love #2
Puppy Love #3: Puppies and Parenting
Puppy Love #4: Puppies and Different Parenting Styles
See our video of Sunny during the first month at our home:
I love this post! Such a wonderful reminder and really, in the end, we are all so much happier when we are able to forgive and forget.
Thanks Carrie – learning to forgive and forget is definitely a lifelong challenge, but I completely agree – it’s like a burden lifted when you can find your way through a difficult situation and do it.
Jeanette – this is a GREAT post! That Mother Theresa quote is indeed profound – I used to never think about the needs of the person who I thought wronged me before.- humility is indeed hard to master – I struggle with it too – but live and keep on learning right?
Thanks Shashi – humility is definitely one of the hardest things to practice day in and day out, something to strive towards. Just imagine if we all were able to practice more humility in our lives, what a difference we could make.
Jeanette,
first off, love the video of Sunny . . makes me want to get a dog! so cute! My thoughts on forgiveness: if I ask God to forgive my sins and the things that I do on a daily basis, how can I not forgive someone else for something? I’m pretty big on forgiveness and not holding on to things. love that quote from Mother Theresa. . I too have never really thought about the humility part but it makes total sense! loved this post!
Thanks Alice – we’re having fun with Sunny. She’s a lot of work, but she’s quickly becoming part of our family. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on forgiveness. Yes, so true – if God can forgive ALL our sins (which are too many to count!), then we should be able to forgive others for anything and everything. Not always easy to practice in real life sometimes, so important.
this was a beautiful post. I am currently struggling with loss, forgiveness, new puppy…life is so hard, and doing the right thing so hard…I pray to achieve what you write about. I started with you after going gluten free…the loss of a child, keeping married through horrific times, adding a new puppy…make me appreciate you all the more. You’re a special person, Jeannette! Elise
This is such a great post Jeanette. I have learned that life can be so short and when I let things go, I realize that I am much happier. I am still learning all the time and this is such a great reminder. Love the video of Sunny, she is absolutely adorable!
Thanks Kelly, I don’t think we ever stop learning. I’ve had to let things go over the years and discovered so much freedom from doing that. That has often meant focusing on what’s most important at that point in my life. As for our puppy, she’s been a wonderful addition to our family – makes us enjoy the simple things in life – eat, play, sleep 😉
Such a GREAT post Jeanette! Something I am really trying to work harder on. I’ve noticed too that I forgive and forget so quickly when my kitty destroys something, but I’m not so good when people disappoint. And that puppy… OMG! I want one!
Thanks Anne – it’s definitely a work in progress. It is funny how easy it is to forgive and forget our little furry pets. Just to try to apply that to people ;).
Definitely a great read! <3 I know there have definitely been times in my life where I felt that I shouldn't have had to forgive someone for something they did to me, but when I really thought about it, it takes two, so I definitely had some fault in it as well. Letting someone else "win" has always been a problem for me as well, but I've definitely been trying to work on my humility!
P.S. Your new puppy is adorableeee. <3