A teacher once told each of her
students
to bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to
school. For every person they refuse
to forgive in their life's experience, they chose a potato,
wrote on it the name and date, and
put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were quite heavy.
They were then told to carry this
bag with them everywhere for one week, putting it beside their
bed at night, on the car seat when
driving, next to their desk at work.
The hassle of lugging this around
with them made it clear what a weight they were carrying
spiritually, and how they had to
pay attention to it all the time to not forget and keep leaving it in
embarrassing places. Naturally, the
condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty smelly slime.
This was a great metaphor for the
price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity! Too
often we think of forgiveness as
a gift to the other person, and it clearly is for ourselves!
Author Unknown