The Awesome Power of Forgiveness

The awesome power of forgiveness lies in freeing yourself of the burden of anger and the pain it causes you. I know how hard it is to consciously forgive someone for hurting or betraying you. It's especially difficult when the wound is fresh and it doesn't seem like the person who wronged us deserves our forgiveness. Maybe they did something so difficult to forgive or maybe they don't seem like they've learned anything from the experience and they have no plans to change.

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I think something that helps in forgiving others is focusing on how they may have also suffered or been hurt by what they've done. It's easier to forgive when we see karmic retribution already at work. It's a lot harder when this person is a repeat offender whether that's toward us or others they've harmed in their wake. In that case, always come back to the knowledge that you forgive for yourself, because it frees you and allows you to let go and move forward.

It also helps in forgiving people when we think about the fact that people who hurt others and abuse their trust, the power we gave them when we allowed ourselves to be vulnerable to them, are the real losers in the situation. They clearly have issues of their own and we can sometimes feel pity for them when we focus on reaching the point of forgiveness. It's not about placing yourself above others. We've all made mistakes and done things we aren't proud of, but realizing that as much as someone may have hurt us, they are probably hurting themselves helps you forgive and let go.

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