Nelson Mandela teaches us about the power of forgiveness during lockdown

With lockdown, we have all come to a standstill. It’s a halt in our everyday lives of programs, schedules and business.

While some have already developed new programs and schedules – there is also time to clean up clean out and just be still.  

The benefits of stillness

It’s during this stillness that many things can happen. One of the possibilities is that old issues, unfinished business and even pain, hurt and regret, rise to the surface looking for resolution. You can’t ignore this any longer. Overwork, overplay and you constantly being busy all the time, can’t suppress it any more

It’s time to clean up and clean out your life, your heart and keep an open mind

The question is: How? The answer is through forgiveness.

The next questions are: What is forgiveness? How does it work? Isn’t it a cop-out?  Does it make you weaker or stronger? What is the process of forgiveness? What are the benefits?

Once more we can learn from the Madiba-wisdom

Nelson Mandela and forgiveness during lockdown

Just imagine all the time Nelson Mandela[i] had to rethink all the iniquities if his adversaries. Not a week or a month – or even years – but decades.

During this time, something happened. We might never know how or when, but Madiba decided to ‘let go’.

He might have had an epiphany. He might have had a dream, a moment of inspiration or a moment of clarity. Maybe an awareness grew over a long period of time Who knows … But whatever happened … Nelson Mandela decided to let go of revenge, hate, anger, pain, hurt, loss and regret.

He decided to take the high road.

Like the renown poet Robert Frost, said: ‘Two roads diverged in the woods.  I took the road less travelled – and that’s made all the difference’.

Nelson Mandela also took the road less travelled. He forgave his opponents. And that is what has made all the difference.

We too have the choice to ‘take the road less travelled.’ We too can learn to forgive.

 What is forgiveness?

‘Forgiveness’, comes from the old Latin word ‘perdonare- meaning to ‘pardon’. It means to ‘let go’.

The choice is to let go of anger, retribution, condemnation and retaliation against our adversaries and perpetrators. We even have to ‘let go’ of the iniquities of those close to us and who can hurt us the most. We also need to forgive ourselves.  

All religions promote forgiveness.

 Forgiving others – forgiving self.

An alcoholic client of mine found it very difficult to forgive himself once he sobered up and left his cloud of denial and delusion behind. He suddenly became aware of the truth of his destructive behavior and the influence on people, especially his family.

Although his loved ones praised him for his bold step to become sober – he found it difficult to accept this destructive side of self and to forgive himself. 

This is usually the first challenge we have when we begin to awaken. However, this is also the path of life…

Forgiveness, as ‘letting go of the old’, is a bridgebuilder between the old and the new.

The detrimental effects of negativity and unforgiveness

Harboring negative thoughts and feeling (as we discussed previously) leave a negative, discord imprint, like a ball of dark tar, hanging in the air. Read more...

To do list

Here are a few ideas to help you on this path:

·        Connect with the universal frequency of 528Hz.

·        Learn more about the Love Law and read about 528Hz

·        Make a list of people who have hurt, or disappointment you – forgive.

·        Make a list of those you have hurt and disappointed – ask forgiveness.

·        Forgive your self – remember it’s only your lower shadow ego-self who does these negative things.

·        Ask the universe, Creation, Creator, God to forgive you.

·        Remember, your real-me authentic self is still intact just waiting for you to let it take charge.

·        Contact us if you need help, assistance and coaching. 

·        To catch up and previous lessons see. Website: https://www.brendahattingh.com/blog. Stay up to date…

·        Free E-book: Read the free E-book: Coaching yourself to ultimate success. Available here

·        Enrol for the 10-part course: Learning to think, live and lead like Nelson Mandela. Available here

·        Subscribe for your free Daily Power Tools for Power People delivered to your inbox. Available here

·        To book a personal coaching session via Skype, Zoom or WhatsApp, call and leave a voice message or send a message to (027) 066 29 26808, or send email: [email protected]  We will get back to you ASAP

·        Book Dr Brenda as speaker for your next event. Email: [email protected]. Remember, the lockdown and Covid-19 virus pandemic won’t last forever

Stay safe - stay connected.

References

[i] All references to Nelson Mandela come from his autobiography. Mandela, Nelson, R. (1994). Illustrated. The long walk to freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Little, Brown & Company: London.