Forgiveness

I'm learning a lot lately.

One thing I'm learning about is Forgiveness.

I honestly don't think I realized how powerful this word was, what it does, how it helps.

Sometimes I think, "How can I forgive when it hurts so much?"

But what I've recently learned is this:  In the end, we are the ones who suffer most when we choose not to forgive. 

Seriously. 

A lot of time is spent crying over being hurt, huh?  While mourning over hurt is necessary and healing in itself, I've learned that forgiveness helps:

There may well be memories we are unable to put out of our minds, but we choose not to allow them to control our attitudes and behavior in the future, even toward those who may be responsible for those memories.

Forgiveness is not excusing!

Forgiveness is not denying that the one who has caused the hurt is responsible for their actions. There is a place for making allowances for people’s behavior.

I now truly and faithfully believe in this from Mahatma Gandhi: 

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

Forgiving is not easy.  But when it can be accomplished, it really does make us stronger.  WE are taking control.  We aren't letting emotions or others ruin our spirit. 

And forgiveness HAS allowed me to grow.

I have also recently learned to forgive myself.  And it was hard!   In order to forgive oneself, it means you did something wrong.  It means I didn't like who I saw in the mirror and what I did.  I hurt for days, but then I finally forgave myself.  It was hard; difficult; it hurt.

But to forgive others means we can stop obsessing over things.  We can move on.  Take acceptance to what happened and that helps OURSELVES.  Forgiveness, while sometimes difficult to to, allows us to stop consuming ourselves with paralyzing thoughts and raw emotions that drag through our minds endlessly all the time; keep us awake all night, ruin our sleep, deprive us of having a good day.

I am actually liking forgiveness.  For whatever reason, it allows me to move past the hurt faster (which I for one will easily take!).

Wish I would have known about it sooner in life.  I probably did, just didn't realize how powerful it truly was until recently because of some things I have gone through.  Talking about forgiveness has really opened my eyes.