Is it possible that forgiveness can make you more important? Teresa Norton makes a strong argument that this could be the case in her recent blog entry! In this blog, Norton describes how forgiveness can be used to transform an encounter with a rude customer into a resolved situation that leaves the person being attacked content and even proud of their achievement in dealing with the rude customer. The role-play that she conducts provides important information for how we perceive ourselves in the context of other people and highlights how important forgiveness is when dealing with even minor annoyances. In addition, status and our perception of our place among those around us, can have a profound impact on our behavior and willingness to forgive. If we perceive ourselves to be of a lower status than those around us, we can use self-forgiveness to ameliorate the negativity that drives that assumption, freeing ourselves to be our highest and best self.
