Monday, March 3, 2014

Alice and Otto and The Happy Dream

https://www.tahoedreaminteriors.com/forgive-someone-now/Last night while watching the Oscars, I started thinking about the short film, The Lady in Number 6, which features Alice Herz Sommer, a then 109 year old holocaust survivor.  Alice died last week at the age of 110 and was the oldest living concentration camp survivor.  Her joy and appreciation for life were infectious.  Watch the clip below to see how much she loved both music and people.

Alice reminds me so much of a neighbor I had years ago.  Otto lived down the street from us and was the delight of the entire neighborhood.  Everyday he strolled the sidewalks greeting us all joyously.  He had so much happiness and generosity in his heart.  He loved everyone and wanted nothing more than to connect with each of us personally.  There were always dog treats in Otto's pocket and friendly teasing for any neighborhood children.  I was shocked one day to see the concentration camp tattoo on his wrist.  I never quite got over it.  How could Otto, who had witnessed and been victimized by the worst in human nature be able to bring out the best in human nature in his own self?

Alice and Otto have something huge in common and it's not their concentration camp background...it's forgiveness. Both manged to somehow forgive their horrible past.  They were living proof of the happiness that forgiveness brings.

A Course in Miracles promises that if we live a life of forgiveness we will eventually find ourselves living what it calls "the happy dream" life.  Alice and Otto both forgave and ultimately came to live that happy dream.


We each are in total control of only one thing: our thoughts.  What we choose to fill our minds with defines who we are and what we become.  

Both Alice and Otto lost just about everyone they knew and loved in Hitler's concentration camps and yet they lived on to forgive and love the world.  If they can forgive the terrifying experiences of the camps, then we are each certainly capable of forgiving our own past wounds.  Let Alice and Otto be a shining example of what each of us is capable of achieving, if we will only just do it.  Forgiveness is a lifestyle.  Take the first step and begin to forgive today.  Just take a look at Alice and her joy.  Don't you want the "happy dream", too?


Available at:

Amazon.com
Barnesandnoble.com
Balboapress.com

And if you want to get started today forgiving someone but don't know how, this quick and easy $2.99 downloadable forgiveness process will allow you to forgive today:




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