The Message of LeadershipMuestra

THE KING OF VIRTUES

"Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again."
-Dag Hammarskjöld

In my opinion, Coretta Scott King was the epitome of forgiveness. When I was living in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to meet her and tour her late husband’s museum. If anyone had the right to be bitter and resentful in this life, it was Coretta Scott King; however, she impressed me with her resolve to take all the negativity and turn it into a positive force for the sake of the oppressed and downtrodden.
I have witnessed a lot of misery suffered by people who have been abused and hurt by the powers of this world. When we feel we have been cheated by life, we make a choice to allow ourselves to become bitter and withdrawn or we can decide to learn from the experience and become better.

When I was sixteen, my parents divorced and my world appeared to come apart at the seams. It made me angry to think that I had been cheated out of my right to be happy. But this was not the end of my life as I supposed. It was merely a temporary detour that eventually helped me move in a more positive direction. Psychologists tell us that it is the way we choose to interpret what happens in our lives, more than the actual circumstances and experiences, that determines our destiny. Bitter or better—we get to decide!

Here is my observation: It is the one who has been wronged who has all the power, not the one who does the wrong. And our power comes in the form of forgiveness. When we forgive, we liberate ourselves to live the life God has given us.

Essential Insight 17: Forgiveness is a powerful force in the hands of those who have been wronged.