One if the most effective ways to bleed our spirit-energy away is to impale ourselves on the twin swords of blame and nonforgiveness. Therefore, the ability to forgive ourselves is essential to our soul's growth. Forgiveness orginally meant "to return good treatment for ill usage," which reminds me of a beautiful saying: "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the hand that has crushed it."

We are all susceptable to human failings. We've all pointed the finger of blame at ourselves and others and trotted out an inner perfectionist to bludgeon ourselves with guilt and shame. We have crushed the delicate violet of another's feelings and trampled our own under the heels of unrealistic demands. But as the immeninently true cliche states, "To err is human, to forgive, divine." As we forgive, the divine fragrance of the Beloved flows through us, bestowing blessings.

Our souls are no strangers to forgiveness, for they have basked in the benediction of the Creator's forgiveness for eternity. Difficulty in forgiving means that we have slipped from the heart of God/dess into our human heads or guts and are no longer centered in the ground of our being, which is unconditional love.

By becoming aware of the skid away from our higher self, we can move back into our hearts. Even though it may sound too good to be true, we can return to our heart by merely asking to do so and accepting that it is done. Remembering to pour the fragrance of the God/dess's love and acceptance upon oursleves will set the stage for our ability to forgive the hands that occasionally crush us.

Forgiving ourselves allows us to create a garden of violets that will perfume our own and other's lives with the fragrance of love.