Being grateful is an acknowledgment that life is a process of give and take, that none of us have all we will ever need or want, nor that any of us will leave this life without experiencing difficulty.

Practicing gratitude returns our focus to what we hold dear, to the gifts we receive in whatever form they come to us. As we bid adieu to the campaign we want to say: We are grateful to all of you who contributed to the campaign, participated in conversations and activities, visited our Web site, spread the word about the campaign, and most of all tapped the power of love and forgiveness in your own life. We couldn’t have done this without you–all of you. Thank you!

I have seen how the conversations can change hearts and attitudes.
–Conversation Facilitator

It’s hard to know what to write or where to start to tell you the campaign is coming to a close. Good-byes are difficult and awkward–often because it’s hard to let go of someone or something special and that is what this campaign has been.

From the introductory meeting, when sharing personal stories of love and forgiveness with colleagues seemed awkward at best, public television stations and their partners took the challenge to dive into uncharted territory and went for it. For four years, national and local campaign partners, and hundreds of brave individuals have come together to explore the power of love and forgiveness to impact our lives, our work, and our communities.

The Fetzer Institute began this project as an experiment to see how a series of focused conversations and accompanying activities might affect people’s understanding of and willingness to be more loving and forgiving toward themselves and others. Our research for year four is still being compiled, but based on year three research, 70% of those who participated in campaign conversations reported that they would be more likely to:

• Forgive themselves for mistakes
• Forgive others who are close to them
• Consider offering forgiveness as a response to a difficult situation
• Talk with friends about forgiveness or being more forgiving
• Choose to forgive someone rather than being angry at them

The campaign, like life, has come with hurdles and difficulties. I often say writing about love and forgiveness is the easy part, living it is much more challenging–all the more reason to forgive. But what the campaign reinforced for me is that we are all both imperfect and inextricably connected. Because of our imperfections, we’ll make mistakes and hurt each other, but if we can approach ourselves and others with kindness and compassion for these faults, foibles, and faux pas, we create the room to improve and to love ourselves and others more fully.

The campaign is ending this month, but the work will continue through the Fetzer Institute’s many initiatives and you who exemplify this work in your daily lives. We hope you’ll want to continue to stay connected with the Fetzer Institute. The campaign blog will be ending at the end of June, but this ending signals the beginning of a Fetzer blog, which will explore love, forgiveness, and compassion, include Fetzer activities, research, commentary, and more.

So maybe we won’t say good-bye, just yet. We will say thank you. Thank you for your love, forgiveness, and compassion. Thank you for your support and interest in the campaign. We are grateful to you for joining us in this great experiment and hope you’ll stay with us as it continues!

No matter how long it’s been or how far away you’ve wandered, you can always begin again.
–Sharon Salzberg, The Force of Kindness CD

A friend of mine loaned me a book and accompanying CD recently that has changed the way I relate to myself. The book, The Force of Kindness by Sharon Salzberg, is beautifully written and full of great wisdom. But the book was not the piece that so moved me. It was an instruction Salzberg gives in a guided meditation on the accompanying CD.

It goes something like this, “The moment when you realize you’ve been distracted is the most important moment in the meditation…That’s the moment when we have the chance to be really different, to actively bring the force of compassion into our practice and into our lives. Rather than judging yourself or seeking to punish yourself, that’s the moment to be gentle, to let go, to forgive yourself, to consciously practice kindness. Nothing is ruined. You simply begin again.”

To me, this is an instruction for life. “No matter how far away you’ve wandered” from your ideals, dreams, morals, or core, you can begin again. She says that even if you have to do it 1,000’s of times, it’s ok. What a relief. What a gift.

Now I remind myself that each time I realize I’ve wandered from this moment–whether I’ve made a misstep, acted insensitively, indifferently, harshly, or generally let my ego or inner dialogue run wild–that that is the most important moment in my life.

The same goes for how I approach others in my life. When I’m faced with an uncomfortable situation, or difficult encounter–that moment is an opportunity to “consciously practice kindness”.

I’ve read a number of books about kindness, forgiveness, compassion, and meditation and endeavor to practice each. But it wasn’t until I heard Salzberg’s words that I felt myself relax into my imperfection, knowing that I can forgive myself and start over, again, and again, and again. I know this instruction isn’t meant to encourage or  justify lax behavior, but it does allow for loosening the grip of my self critic, that voice and energy that take up time and space that could be filled with kindness.