Mairin McCracken
The Huddle #14: So I want to forgive you...

Last week, we talked about choices. The thing about awakening ourselves up to the power of choice is that we have to be open to the possibility that sometimes we’ll choose wrong. We’ll make mistakes. We’ll f*** up, and then we’ll f*** up again.
And so will everyone else in our lives.
My teacher, Erin Gilmore, read this Glennon Doyle quote in class the other day about how, in order to find peace, you’ve got to forgive as many people as possible, over and over and over again. We all know forgiveness is hard AF, and we all have those people that we’re just not ready to forgive right now (looking at you, person who created the SF human poop map. We’ve spent years trying to unsee this sh**. Literally.) However, there are some people we can start forgiving, right now.
Foremost on that list is yourself. To all my friends out there who say “I’m sorry” five billion times a day but won’t forgive yourself for losing your keys every once in a while, or beat yourself up over little nuances in a conversation with a coworker, or have convinced yourself he’ll never want to hook up again because you forgot to shave your legs before knockin’ boots: let that shit go. Let it go over and over and over again.
Little forgivenesses go a long way. Forgive that guy who’s on the phone in your Lyft Line, or the person who takes the window spot right as you’re about to swoop in before hot yoga - and while you’re at it - stop being angry with yourself for the after-hours pizza you put down on Friday night. Eventually, the little forgivenesses will build a foundation for the big ones.
When I practice forgiveness on the daily it makes my day so much happier. For my friends who love a good journal entry: Instead of, “I am grateful for…” , try this:
“So, I want to forgive you …”