It’s Tiki here, and I hope you have all had a great weekend!

I had a fun, and definitely enlightening, weekend. You see, the weather was beautiful outside, so my mommy and I decided to take a trip to the dog park. We were having a blast, chasing each other around and tossing around my favorite toy. Then out of nowhere, a sneaky little Rat Terrier pounced in and stole my toy. Before I could do anything, he was halfway across the park, chewing up my favorite stuffed animal. So of course I chased him, but when I finally caught up with him, I was flabbergasted – he had torn all the stuffing out of my toy. This was unforgivable. I was so enraged that all I could think of was seeking revenge: I wanted to find his favorite toy and pull the stuffing out of it. Thankfully at that moment, my mommy scooped me up and took me over to a nice bench to cool off a bit.

Even after a few minutes of focusing on my yogic breathing and relaxing, I was still feeling really angry towards that Rat Terrier. It all just seemed so unfair, and I wanted him to pay for stealing my toy. But try as I might to stay angry, I started thinking of the lessons that have soaked in while I’m watching yoga class, and I realized that if I continued to hold on to that anger and resentment, it would only harm me, not the Rat Terrier. I realized that I needed to forgive him, not because he deserved to be forgiven, but because I deserved it. I care so much about my own happiness and well-being that I would not allow that other doggie’s unkindness to adversely affect me or ruin my day at the park.

As we go through our lives, chances are that from time to time, we’ll run into the Rat Terriers of the world who treat us unkindly or unfairly. If we hold on to those feelings of anger or resentment, it only serves to make us unhappy; it certainly doesn’t teach the Rat Terrier any lesson. The thing we forget about forgiveness is that it’s not for the benefit of the person or doggie who wronged us; it is for our benefit. We forgive and let go of those negative feelings not because the other party deserves to be forgiven, but because we care about our own happiness and love ourselves so much that we choose not to let other people have that kind of control over our happiness. And it really is liberating to release any anger we’re harboring and completely forgive. Remember that you always have a choice, so choose forgiveness for your own sake. Then experience and embrace that wonderful feeling of liberation that comes when we forgive the Rat Terriers in our lives.

Namaste,
Tiki