A conversation with a relative of mine caused me to think of the subject of commemoration and connection that leads to a life of freedom. The discussion was about an abusive father a relative of mine had. The father then died when he was young. The mother instructed this individual to attend the funeral despite the situation in order to honor what was good and allow closure to occur for her son. This, in turn, allowed him to transition into his adult life with less resentment from the past
So how is this person's situation relevant to all of us? All of us need to deal with disappointment with people and the pain it brings. We need to process our pain instead of ignoring it and burying it. We also need to reframe the past in order to understand the situations more objectively and gain sympathy and understanding toward those we felt hurt from.
When discussing connecting and commemorating, we are referring to honoring and commemorating someone for the positive aspects of their lives. Despite someone's shortcomings, there usually are positive aspects about their lives that we can discover. In this sense, we can connect with these positive qualities and or accomplishments.
When we process and let go of past hurts and disappointments and commemorate and connect with these positive aspects, we enable ourselves to move on to living a life of freedom. Summing It Up So, to sum it up, we need to deal with disappointment and pain by processing it and reframing the past. Then connecting with positive aspects of those who disappointed us we enabes us to move into the future with greater mental and emotional freedom. Your Application When reflecting on your past, have you processed your painful experiences and reframed what happened? Have you practiced commemoration and connection with the positive aspects of others which leads to a life of freedom?