Learn to forgive and forget

 Nearly every day in our lives, if we are out and about, we will run into people who are unpleasant, obnoxious and downright nasty. It could be on the road, in the supermarket, in the workplace or any other location were we come into contact with people with differing views.

Perhaps those people see us as unpleasant, obnoxious and downright nasty and maybe sometimes we are, knowingly or unknowingly, the agitators.

If we hold on to the nasty comments of other people or our own, over time, it will swell into a river of negative thoughts. Therefore, it is best to forgive and forget any past unpleasantness.

It is also very important to forgive ourselves for any transgressions our emotional ego's may sometimes commit. Both forms of forgiving (self and other people) are very important if we are to remain healthy and disease free.

A mind filled with resentments and hates will fill the body full of cancer, heart failure and other debilitating illnesses over a period of years ... Hence, forgiveness is a powerful medicine and sometimes may be a hard pill to swallow.

My Jewish name is Menacha, which means to forgive. I may kid around with negative people and sometimes speak my mind about their negative approach but I wish them all well and they should all live a prosperous life in love and joy despite their inner Goliaths.

When anger or resentments come into our mind towards others, who have done us a disservice, we should learn to turn their insults into creative ideas from our heart and soul. In other words, turn a negative remark from others into a positive idea that can produce great results for future prosperity.

Enjoy each moment on earth and don't allow other peoples negative comments to steal the joy of the moment.

The elephant in the room

Throughout my childhood, I viewed my family as average: four kids, stay-at-home Mom, ranch house in the Villages, public schools.  The drama of my youth was equally banal: broken arm, awkward teen years, best friend moved away. Utterly typical, except for the elephant in the room. I was so used to living with it that I didn’t see it. 

My older brother has autism. Not Asperger’s, not mild autism, but the head-banging, knuckle-biting sort. He cracked the plasterboard wall of his room with his head. He’d whack it so hard I was convinced that the front of the forehead has no feeling. I’d touch mine sometimes, but I could feel my fingers. Maybe the senses there are only superficial? I did a few test bangs, which barely hurt (and barely hit) but I never had enough conviction to slam my head full force against the wall and test my theory.  Besides, what if I didn’t hit the sweet spot?  

I need to say that my brother’s eruptions of frustration never hurt anyone. On the rare occasions when my sister or I provoked him beyond endurance, he’d pound the wall, holding me (or her) with the other hand so I could feel his anger in every wham, wham, wham against the wall next to my head. Most of the time, we avoided getting cornered, so we scampered off while he lashed out his frustration on the wall.  We had spats over the usual stuff, who empties the dishwasher or gets the bathroom next. No kid is going to let their brother get away with always having his way because of a label that no one understood.