The Power of Forgiveness

We have all been taught to forgive and forget. But I wonder how many of us have truly practiced it? I know myself that I am guilty of saying I forgave someone but constantly beating the fact that I haven’t forgotten their actions over their head.

Example: It has taken me years, literally years for me to forgive my ex of something he said to me back in 2006. (I realize that was 5 years ago) He said, and I quote “You are not the one” At the time I was 19 and that crushed my entire world. For a long time I held those words against him and because of that allowed for our entire relationship be dictated and deteriorate because of my inability to forgive and forget. 5 years later I can happily say that I have forgiven him and forgotten the transgression because I realized that I was allowing words and actions stifle my emotional growth. Today we are actually good friends and know that our own immaturity killed our romantic relationship, but our maturity has allowed us to develop a healthy platonic relationship (yes it is possible for exes to be friends and not sleep together!!)

Nevertheless I find myself today in another situation where the challenge of forgiving and forgetting has presented itself. This time, while the transgressions are worse, I am learning to think more logically and less emotionally before I proceed with action. I am learning that it is easy, really easy to walk out on someone who hurts you, whether it is a significant other,friend or family member, but it takes true resilience to forgive that person. The forgetting part will undoubtedly take a long time, but I think it is the responsibility of both parties to actively patch things back up and facilitate the forgiving. Now let me say that by no means does forgiving and forgetting mean that this individual must remain a part of your life, but what it does mean that you can forgive and forget from afar. The power of forgiveness is the freeness (emotional,physical,ect) we receive by letting go! Holding on does nothing but keep the pain in your life. LET GO! Now I do say this with caution. If you decide to allow for this person to remain in your life you should get to the root of the problem in order to prevent future issues. But at the end of the day LET GO AND LET GOD deal with things. We are not put on this earth to judge, so let he without sin be the first to cast a stone. My goal for the weekend is to forgive anyone who has ever hurt me, whether they are aware of it or not. And to start the process of forgetting their wrong doings. Now imagine a world where everyone forgave and forgot, even their worst enemies….