“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth.
Known as the ‘Sultan of Swat’, Babe Ruth, voted in 1999 by an ESPN poll as the third greatest US athlete of the century, had a batting average of .342 with 714 home runs. An average of .342 means that Babe Ruth made a safe hit on 34.2% of his visits to the plate – statistically a very high average – the ninth best career batting average. However this means that approximately 2 in 3 times at bat he did NOT hit the ball safely.
And such is life. Hence the importance of forgiveness. I am lucky to be surrounded by very forgiving people… my wife would head that list. As a fallible human being, I’m proud to say I regularly make mistakes.
I remember long ago being told that if I’m succeeding at everything then I’m probably not pushing myself enough.
And so I push and push, sometimes pushing the envelope a little too far. I like to take risks – in my life, with my relationships, and it’s interesting to see where that takes me. Sometimes it results in wonderful idea-changing conversations. As it turns out, in the past few days I said a few things that pushed buttons I didn’t know existed. What started as a friendly conversation turned into something a little less friendly and soon enough I had pushed a little too far.
This is where forgiveness comes in. Recognizing my own mistake I apologized and thankfully received forgiveness. Without forgiveness we have just a cement floor to crash down onto. Without forgiveness we live in a dark and scary world. Without forgiveness we cry alone.
With forgiveness we can feel the true love of others. Showing forgiveness takes courage, integrity and honour and it’s a gift you give not only to others but to yourself. Through forgiveness you have the opportunity to lighten the baggage and move forward.
Forgiveness is very powerful.
If you recognize a mistake you’ve made it might be helpful to ask yourself:
- What caused the failure – the situation, someone else or myself ?
- What can I learn from this?
- What successes are contained in this failure?
- How can I turn this into a success?
- Am I grateful for this experience?
- Who can help me with this issue?
- Where do I go from here?
“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T.S. Eliot.
