<p>There is always another way of looking at something. Simply focus on offering forgiveness to the person who has wronged you. To not forgive them is like taking the poison (continuing to suffer for what they did or didn't do to you) and expecting them to die! <br /><br />Alexander Pope once said, "To err is human; to forgive, Divine." Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself. It is not something you do for someone else. It is not complicated. It is simple. Simply identify the situation to be forgiven and ask yourself: "Am I willing to waste my energy further on this matter?" If the answer is "No," then that's it! It’s time to try forgiveness. <br /><br />Forgiveness is an act of the imagination. It dares you to imagine a better future, one that is based on the blessed possibility that your hurt will not be the final word on the matter. It challenges you to give up your destructive thoughts about the situation and to believe in the possibility of a better future. It builds confidence that you can survive the pain and grow from it. <br /><br />Forgiveness has little or nothing to do with another person because forgiveness is an internal matter. Choice is always present in forgiveness. You do not have to forgive and there are consequences. Refusing to forgive by holding on to the anger, resentment and a sense of betrayal can make your own life miserable. A vindictive mind-set creates bitterness and lets the betrayer claim one more victim. <br /><br />To withhold forgiveness is to choose to continue to remain the victim. When you forgive you do it for you, not for the other. The person you have never forgiven owns you! The choice to forgive is only and always yours. <br /><br />Forgiving someone else is to agree within yourself to overlook the wrong they have committed against you and to move on with your life. It's the only way. <br /><br />Forgive and forget is a myth. You may never forget and you can choose to forgive. As life goes on and you remember, then is the time to once again remember that you have already forgiven. Mentally forgive again if necessary, then move forward. <br /><br />Forgiveness is a creative act that changes us from prisoners of the past to liberated people at peace with our memories. It is not forgetfulness, but it involves accepting the promise that the future can be more than dwelling on memories of past injury. <br /><br />To forgive means to "give up", to let go. It also means to restore oneself to basic goodness and health. When we forgive, we are willing to give up resentment, revenge and obsession. We are willing to restore faith not only in ourselves, but in life itself. <br /><br />Forgiveness is the most important single process that brings peace to our soul and harmony to our life. No one benefits from forgiveness more than the one who forgives! <br />Robert Enright, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wisconsin defines forgiveness as "giving up the resentment to which you are entitled and offering to the person who hurt you friendlier attitudes to which they are not entitled." <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi put it beautifully, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Give yourself the gift of forgiveness.</p>
<p>There is always another way of looking at something. Simply focus on offering forgiveness to the person who has wronged you. To not forgive them is like taking the poison (continuing to suffer for what they did or didn't do to you) and expecting them to die! <br /><br />Alexander Pope once said, "To err is human; to forgive, Divine." Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself. It is not something you do for someone else. It is not complicated. It is simple. Simply identify the situation to be forgiven and ask yourself: "Am I willing to waste my energy further on this matter?" If the answer is "No," then that's it! It’s time to try forgiveness. <br /><br />Forgiveness is an act of the imagination. It dares you to imagine a better future, one that is based on the blessed possibility that your hurt will not be the final word on the matter. It challenges you to give up your destructive thoughts about the situation and to believe in the possibility of a better future. It builds confidence that you can survive the pain and grow from it. <br /><br />Forgiveness has little or nothing to do with another person because forgiveness is an internal matter. Choice is always present in forgiveness. You do not have to forgive and there are consequences. Refusing to forgive by holding on to the anger, resentment and a sense of betrayal can make your own life miserable. A vindictive mind-set creates bitterness and lets the betrayer claim one more victim. <br /><br />To withhold forgiveness is to choose to continue to remain the victim. When you forgive you do it for you, not for the other. The person you have never forgiven owns you! The choice to forgive is only and always yours. <br /><br />Forgiving someone else is to agree within yourself to overlook the wrong they have committed against you and to move on with your life. It's the only way. <br /><br />Forgive and forget is a myth. You may never forget and you can choose to forgive. As life goes on and you remember, then is the time to once again remember that you have already forgiven. Mentally forgive again if necessary, then move forward. <br /><br />Forgiveness is a creative act that changes us from prisoners of the past to liberated people at peace with our memories. It is not forgetfulness, but it involves accepting the promise that the future can be more than dwelling on memories of past injury. <br /><br />To forgive means to "give up", to let go. It also means to restore oneself to basic goodness and health. When we forgive, we are willing to give up resentment, revenge and obsession. We are willing to restore faith not only in ourselves, but in life itself. <br /><br />Forgiveness is the most important single process that brings peace to our soul and harmony to our life. No one benefits from forgiveness more than the one who forgives! <br />Robert Enright, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wisconsin defines forgiveness as "giving up the resentment to which you are entitled and offering to the person who hurt you friendlier attitudes to which they are not entitled." <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi put it beautifully, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Give yourself the gift of forgiveness.</p>
