The act of forgiveness is not simply saying sorry and telling someone you forgive them.
When something goes wrong or you feel you have been wronged, the anger you feel is a burden on yourself, not on the other person.
Many of us won’t forgive because we think other people can feel the punishment from our having angry emotions. We think that when we have feelings of anger or resentment that they are felt or experienced by the people we have those feelings towards.
But, YOU are the only one feeling the way you feel towards them. They have their own thoughts and will only experience their interpretation of your reactionary behavior, not your emotions. (Wow- she’s acting cray cray!)
OUR thoughts create OUR feelings, and their thoughts create theirs. True forgiveness is when YOU stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone. It is meant to make us feel better, not them.
So when do we need to forgive someone? Forgive when YOU are ready to start feeling better about the situation for your own sake. Because the only thing that this anger and resentment does… is punish ourselves.
