Last update: 25 March, 2016
You will agree that human beings, as such, are wrong. We all make mistakes and we have all found ourselves at least once in a situation from which it seemed almost impossible to get out. Not only that: everyone, at least on one occasion, wanted to act according to the rule of an eye for an eye.
Who has never hurt anyone? The detail that makes us better people is the attitude we take towards this fact.
“It's never too late to apologize.
It's never too late to start again.
It is never too late to admit being wrong ”.
(Anonymous)
Among Gandhi's most famous words, there are those that are the title of this article, which are useful for talking about resentment, revenge or forgiveness, for example. Such words touch us directly and refer to contact with the people around us; for this, they push us to reflect constantly.
The mistake is not yours, but it could be
To be wrong is human. The world we live in needs to live up to relationships that continually require our attention, which is why it is increasingly difficult to maintain and maintain them.
As a result, we often find ourselves in situations where we are not up to the circumstances or where we fail drastically. In particular, we are aware of this when the people we refer to are family, friends or our partner.
The error, innate in man, can be seen from different points of view: we can make mistakes with ourselves, with others, or it may be that others make mistakes. In any case, it is good to remember the words with which we began the article: "an eye for an eye and the world goes blind".
Rancor and revenge have a single effect
When others disappoint us or betray us, we feel a great emptiness within us and we are naturally inclined to seek a remedy.. It is at this very moment, before making a decision, we should ask ourselves: “To what extent can revenge and resentment be the right choice? Could it happen that I find myself in the opposite situation to the one I am in now? "
The consequence of a negative attitude is that it turns into an "own goal": violence breeds violence and revenge breeds revenge.
“Never use a weapon like revenge to ease your pain. Just wait. Those who hurt or hit end up self-destructing ”.
(Anonymous)
An attitude of rancor and hatred has a single effect, that is to cause pain to ourselves: negative feelings are strengthened and do not represent a solution. If we all chastised others for their mistakes and lived under the principle of "an eye for an eye", we would never grow up as people.
Educating to forgiveness in order to live
In contrast to these negative feelings, there is justice and forgiveness, which represent the proposal between the lines of Gandhi: in the same way that, when we are wrong, we urgently need the forgiveness of others, even when those roles are reversed we must be able to forgive.
"A person is great when he forgives, when he understands, when he puts himself in the shoes of others, when he does not act as others expect, but as he expects of himself".
(Martha Madeiras)
Educating in forgiveness is essential for living, especially in dark moments. It is from there that oblivion and learning begin, from the possibility we have of continuing our life and understanding mistakes; only in this way will we be able to overcome them.
For this reason, the expression "an eye for an eye and the world goes blind" acquires an incredibly profound meaning for man's existence and for his ability to overcome himself. If we weren't able to forgive in the same way we are capable of making mistakes, the world would be a very sad place and it would destroy itself.
As bad as it may hurt, you have to understand that to chastise for the mere fact of having been chastised brings nothing but pain; certainly not happiness, which you must never stop looking for.
