Forgiveness

Issue #38

As creative leaders, we often face rejection. People ignore or reject our ideas, and critics criticize our creative work. How we respond to this rejection is an indicator of our character. 

In the sixth grade, I was asked to be the reporter for our class news in the local newspaper. I received criticism that I needed to tone my writing down because it was too much like advertising. I was so deeply hurt that it was years before I picked up a pen and began to write again. But those articles foreshadowed a later career in marketing and advertising where I did write ads.

I have been reading the biographies and memoirs of Presidents for several years now. Even these great leaders had a hard time overcoming criticism and forgiving their critics. Both Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower felt slighted by the other. On occasion, Richard M. Nixon felt slighted by JFK, LBJ, and even Eisenhower. Nixon's failure to forgive his enemies and his critics led in part to his downfall and resignation.

How do you handle criticism? How do you respond to rejection? Many years ago, I accidentally submitted two haiku to two different magazines. I found out because they both were returned on the same day. The first letter I opened was a rejection slip, and it hurt. When I opened the second envelope, I found the haiku was accepted for publication. I learned a valuable lesson that day. There will always be rejection, but there will also be acceptance. Don't focus on the rejection; concentrate on the acceptance. Editors are fickle, and rejection often has nothing to do with you. It has to do with the editor's editorial needs and his personal taste.

You may want to take a look at your life. Who do you need to forgive? What criticisms and rejections are holding you back from success? What pain and injury should you let go?  What we spend our time thinking about is who we become.  Are you so busy reliving the slights and rejections of the past that you fail to enjoy the present?  Life is too short to dwell on what we can't change. Forgive and move on.

Sometimes, the private lives of writers, singers, and artists don't live up to the high standards of their creative work.  Alcohol, drugs, and sex have destroyed some of our most creative people.  Some have battled their demons and lost.  The demons may have fueled their creativity, but ultimately, the demons took control and destroyed them.  Creative leaders must learn to forgive those who hurt them and grow beyond pain into better human beings.  

Learn to forgive the people in your life who have hurt you.  The anger does you no good.  It is very destructive, and in the end, you will be the one who suffers.  Make the choice today to be a better person.  

Plant seeds of hope in the hearts of others.