LeadWithGOOD June 2016 | Page 15

year old daughter) moved to North Carolina from Northern Virginia. We noticed that in social gatherings when my son didn’t know a lot of kids, he chose to sit with us instead of playing with kids. Me trying to introduce him to new friends was embarrassing for him. We wanted our son to be social and play with everyone, so we pushed him. It only seemed to have the opposite effect. Me and my husband are very social and this left us extremely frustrated. Initially I thought that the reason for our frustration was my son but eventually I realized that it was my not accepting him. As soon I realized this and accepted this new development in him, it was easier to make him feel comfort- able in new situations. We don’t push anymore and if he chooses to sit with us it is perfectly fine, but we do try to work with him so he starts feeling comfortable in any new environment. Although this is still a work in progress for us, it has definitely improved our relationship with him. A lot of times our judgement of other person is reflection our own self. Somewhere deep in our hearts, we may have not accepted or have simply ignored some of our own characteristics. It is very important to accept yourself. If you stop trying to expect yourselves to do everything right, it will be easier to not expect the same from others. 2. FORGIVENESS When someone has hurt you at an emotional or physical level, forgiving them can be extremely difficult. However, forgiveness is not something that you do for others, it is something that you do for yourselves. On the flip side if you are the one who needs forgiveness, it is important to first forgive yourself, let go of the baggage that you are holding and release yourself of any guilt. Anger, resentment or guilt that stems from such pain actually takes exhaustive amount of energy rather than forgiving yourselves or others. Forgive- ness is a process. It may take days to practice forgiveness and to come to the state of closure. However, time spent practicing forgiveness may result in healing you, making you strong and giving you emotional freedom. If you have already accepted that person the way they are, practicing forgiveness maybe easier. However, there can be situations where every cell in your body refuses to forgive. At that moment, what do you do? Well I try to put m