“It is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everyone.” ~Maya Angelou
Too often we find the idea of forgiveness to be weakening. As if to forgive another for their wrongs to us makes us a pushover or easily manipulated. While the fact is that couldn’t be further from the truth. To forgive someone, especially one that did not ask for it, is one of the biggest strengths we can possess.
The mere act of holding a grudge and harboring hate or animosity in our hearts takes so much from our being. To be hurt is completely understandable. Sometimes people hurt us, the ones we love and trust the most, and no matter how sorry they may be, forgiveness at times just seems unimaginable. Often with the feeling of, “Why should I forgive them, they don’t deserve my forgiveness?” I personally struggled with this thought process myself for an individual that hurt
me, possibly more than anybody else has. It seemed not only easy to hate them, but appropriate. How could I possibly forgive someone that had caused so much damage and make them think that it was okay? So I held the hate, but hating someone takes so much more energy, pain, and effort than the strength of forgiving them. After a long time of subconscious pain, I decided to forgive
and let go, then and only then was I able to heal. With forgiveness comes an acceptance of the situation, not necessarily the person.
Forgiveness is for you. It allows us to heal properly when we forgive others even when they didn’t ask for it. Once you let go of the grudge you are able to begin easing out of the pain. Take the phrase, “Forgive but never Forget” with a grain of salt. Yes, we should be sure to learn from how we are treated and remember to be potentially weary of those that have crossed us, but try to forget the hurt because holding onto it doesn’t do anything for anybody. Living a life of love and forgiveness is living a life of unfathomable strength.