Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.

This is such an inspirational poem. I saw the movie last night that stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. It was a motivating film. I love the last two lines of the poem. The remind me that we are all in control of our destiny. Of our lives. You can choose to be negative and bitter about everything or even just certain aspects of your life, or you can choose to rise above the negative and push on. If Mandela can forgive those that wrongly accused him and put him in jail for almost 30 years, certainly the rest of us can forgive the people in our lives.

I've noticed that there is always one thing that gets in the way of forgiveness and that is our pride. When our pride is hurt, we are hurt. Our pride is hard to let go of. Without it we feel naked. Vulnerable. But sometimes with it, we are lost and lonely people. We block out those who have hurt or wronged us. Even if they are sorry, wrongly accused, or haven't actually said they are sorry. Sometimes we need to be the bigger person and forgive them anyways. Hanging onto hurt, pain and negativity not only hurts them, it hurts us. Perhaps more. You may not be able to forget what has been done, but if you can forgive you are setting yourself free. Free from pain, anger, bitterness, hostility. Forgive and you allow yourself to heal, overcome, and be happy.

Is your pride really worth an unhappy life? I hope not.