Soliloquy of courage, honesty and forgiveness

It requires true courage to not hide from oneself. To stand proudly naked in a mirror and before the world; to look oneself in the eye and see through the veneer of excuses and lies, that covers false pride; to see who one really is, with all one's flaws, underlying faults and horrendous, cancerous defects, to admit and take responsibility for inadequacies, vices and perversions and change them or accept them, own them and be willing to stand up and fight for them; to be, outwardly and unashamedly, who you are. In this, there is no half way. You are either honest or a liar, there is no middle ground on this razors edge, that cuts to the bone. To lie to oneself, is to steal your own honor and pride; to look in the mirror of one's conscience and see only the shadow of perfidy. If you are true to yourself you can not be false to others. To change oneself you must be able to forgive yourself. With out self honesty, you will see nothing that needs correction and thereby no need for forgiveness. Without self forgiveness you can not move on. Do you still not see that forgiveness is for the forgiver, not the transgressor? It frees you from the chains of resentment, anger and hatred, liberating you to move on and live free; clearing your vision from blinding rancorous cankers and lifting the ponderous weight of the anchors that that weigh you down in a quagmire of the past. What are these flames of hell but the burning, self consuming anger and hatred that one stokes and fans in the Birkenau of ones own heart.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree Soren.
"To change oneself you must be able to forgive yourself. With out self honesty, you will see nothing that needs correction and thereby no need for forgiveness. Without self forgiveness you can not move on. Do you still not see that forgiveness is for the forgiver, not the transgressor?"
The above lines we must do. I still need to forgive a few people myself. Hard to face. Powerful and worthwhile shared my friend.
Coyote

[Soren]

Thank you Coyote for your read and insightful comments

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome Soren.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

A harrowing piece of truth in self examination of one's faults, failures, biases, and hatreds. Hate is easy while love more difficult because of what it asks of us, not just in sacrifice but reflection upon ourselves and our hearts. Excellent work Soren.

[Soren]

Thank you Carlos your words are deeply valued. I agree with you love is more difficult and loving oneself is just as difficult if not more so than loving someone else, but it doesn't seem you can truly love someone else unless you love yourself.

[carl]

read with interest and would like to comment and will consider how to do that. Thanks for the post. -carl