Bag of Potatoes

Found this one as I was browsing through old e-mails and thought it's worth sharing...

"One of my teachers had each one of us
bring a clear plastic bag and a
sack of potatoes. For every person we'd
refuse to forgive in our life, we
were told to choose a potato, write on it
the name and date, and put it in
the plastic bag. Some of our bags, as you
can imagine, were quite heavy.

We were then told to carry this bag with
us everywhere for one week,
putting it beside our bed at night, on
the car seat when driving, next
to our desk at work.

The hassle of lugging this around with us
made it clear what a weight we
were carrying spiritually, and how we had
to pay attention to it all the
time to not forget, and keep leaving
it in embarrassing places.

Naturally, the condition of the potatoes
deteriorated to a nasty slime. This
was a great metaphor for the price we pay
for keeping our pain and heavy
negativity.

Too often we think of forgiveness as a
gift to the other person, and
while that's true, it clearly is also a
gift for ourselves. "

-Author Unknown