One of my favorite slogans is ‘be better, not bitter’ because it’s a constant reminder that when we foster negativity within our hearts, it only spirals us down instead of up.
When someone wrongs us, the easiest thing to do is to be angry, to feel spiteful, to want to seek revenge. It’s hard to let go, to breathe, to forgive, to move on. But when we choose to do those positive things, we bring and build light within our hearts and rise above.
Forgiveness is powerful. When we choose to forgive, we are choosing to not let the circumstances of this life define us. We are choosing to grow beyond pain. We are choosing to remove toxicity and bring ourselves onto productive, empowering paths, rather than ones that destroy our hearts, leaving us empty and unfulfilled.
How many times have you tried to seek revenge and only ended up feeling immature? How many times have you expended time and emotion on your anger, only to leave yourself exhausted and worse off than before?
‘Be better, not bitter.’ This means that you are choosing to better yourself, to better your situation, to better your next step instead of wasting energy on ‘getting back’ at someone.
When you choose to be better you choose to let someone’s words roll off your back. You choose to acknowledge the humanness within all of us, and though that doesn’t necessarily lessen the pain this person has caused you, you accept mistakes and sinfulness as a part of this world and don’t let what someone says, does, or implies about you ruin the way you see yourself.
When you choose to be better, you choose to forgive because forgiveness sets yourself free. Continue reading →
