Forgiveness is not just something to ask for. It is also something to grant. With forgiveness comes great freedom, whether you are on the giving or the receiving end.
This is a guest post from Jason of “Learning To Forgive”.
I often encounter those holding onto resentments from the past in an attempt to avoid conflict or reduce the chance of having to be vulnerable. Forgiving others as well as asking for forgiveness takes a tremendous amount of courage.
To forgive, we must allow our ego’s to subside. We have to let go of the need or desire to be angry. We have to release the desire to exact revenge.
In asking for forgiveness, we must humble ourselves. We have to accept our faults as a human being and look into the mirror and realize that is who we are; imperfect, temperamental, emotional, vulnerable, yet beautiful and unique.
Nobody likes feeling vulnerable. Yet, beautiful moments and learning experiences happen we are most vulnerable, allowing ourselves to be emotionally open to receiving and giving forgiveness.
Finding the courage to forgive happens when we look at ourselves and realize how fragile we are. This realization can seem overwhelming, but once we accept our fragility, we can then begin to appreciate the gift of life on a deeper and more intimate level.
The gift of life happens now! Happiness happens now! To allow ourselves to hold onto resentment, anger, shame or guilt seems pointless when you look at it that way.
Living in the now is the key to happiness, and the key to living in the now comes from finding the courage to forgive.
Jason is a self proclaimed animal lover, and dedicated to helping others discover their truth.
Read also: The Secret to Happiness.
Beautiful post and a very valuable reminder!
🙂
Traci
Last year I was struggling with this issue of forgiveness and I heard this song which said : Forgiveness – The prisoner that it really frees is you! And that made sense! I also think forgiveness is ongoing. You don’t just forgive and forget. You keep forgiving every time the resentment comes back. Good post!
Thank you Jason, beautiful post, and so true. Just recently someone I considered a friend did something to me and my girlfriend that I am having trouble to forgive. All that anger and resentment is very damaging – trouble sleeping at night, worsened health, less enjoyment of life.
I am learning a lot about the harm of bad emotions and the importance of learning to forgive. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is feeling the other person doesn’t deserve it, but then we all do deserve it, especially the person doing the forgiving and making their lives happier.