'When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.' ~ Catherine Ponder
Forgiveness keeps coming up for me at the moment, not because I feel guilty but because I have felt a lot of resentment and bitterness as of late, so I feel compelled to write about it today.
Although forgiveness seems a lovely thing to do, how many of us actually forgive others and more importantly, forgive ourselves?
I recently had something go sour and I was so angry about how it all turned out. The anger, resentment, injustice and loss emotions felt black and so very negative. I didn't want to hold onto that and attract further negativity into my life so I tried to simply move on, ignore and forget. Somehow I seemed to be constantly reminded, in one way or another of what happened. I realised that until I truly forgave the people involved and their actions, I wouldn't be able to move on to a positive place. What I have found is that it is a lot easier said than done.
"I forgive you!"
If only it was that easy to simply say it and mean it. How does one come back to a place of inner peace after a negative event, big or small, and forgive? I started saying it everyday to myself, in the hope that I would eventually feel it to be true. Sure enough, each day the negativity seemed to lighten but what I found worked more was how I carried on, my actions afterwards that seemed to really make me feel that forgiveness.
So I guess forgiveness is about shifting your perception of that event/person to a different place in order to move forward, and every action afterwards is one that is not coming from a place of revenge or negativity, but from a place of love and forgiveness.
'True forgiveness is not an action after the fact, it is an attitude with which you enter each moment.' ~ David Ridge
It is something I try to work on too. I think we also need to remember that forgiving is not condoning an act or injustice, but to give back that negative feeling. FOR GIVE. I used to struggle with it until I thought of it in this way. At the end of the day I guess it is only ourselves that we eat up and consume with negative feelings to another person or people. They go along their way, and until we forgive we are the ones that carry the load. Thank you for reminding me to let go of some of that. :o)
ReplyDeleteForgiveness is hard...but I believe it can heal the deepest wounds. One of the leaders in the Church I belong to said this "If we can find forgiveness in our hearts for those who have caused us hurt and injury, we will rise to a higher level of self-esteem and well-being" - President James E. Faust. I truly believe this. Don't let the past drag you down - FORGIVE and FORGET! It'll just drive you crazy otherwise.
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