Forgive Ourselves and Forgive Others

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To enjoy life peacefully, a very important aspect is to learn to forgive.

Forgiveness is to let go that which no longer serves us, freeing us to heal and move forward with ease and lightness. But for many of us, forgiving is a very hard thing to do.

The simplest things in life are often the best gifts. But they may also not be that simple.

The best gift people can give to each other are the gifts of forgiveness, peace, love, respect, and a smile, as we forget all the wrongs, we believe have been done to us.

Have we thought about giving ourselves the gift of forgiveness this year?

The way I learned it was back when we came to Canada in 1989. At the time I didn’t speak or understand any English and was living at my aunt’s house with her family and my family being together. It started small, but over time it had an insidious effect. My aunt started teasing us, which slowly turned to insult, then bullying behavior: we are useless here, we will be struggling, doing factory labor work… and on, and on. It started as just a joke but later turned into real verbal bullying.

At first, I thought it was nothing serious. No big deal. I thought she might realize and will change one day.

But slowly I started feeling depressed and began to brood about it. That eventually turned to actual, physical headaches every day. I felt like as if I was in hell. My mother was trying to help me, but as the bullying was not stopping, we decided that the only solution was to move to another place. And we did finally move out and get our own apartment — and then I had no more problems with bullying. But I also never showed my face to my aunt for a good five years after that. So much so that she noticed and began to complain to my mom and elder sisters.

One day we met at a family event, and she demonstrated to me, “What have I done wrong?” I explained to her, “Aunty, I love you and will always have respect for you and your opinions. But in this case, I am finding it very hard to dismiss the nasty comments you made about me and my family. I found I could not let such remarks go. They were hurtful, cruel… and though you aimed them to me and my family, I was the one you hurt. I hope that was unintentional.” She realized her part and felt bad and said, “Sorry!” Anyways, it will remain as an awful memory.

The road to forgiveness, it was hard. But I learned to forgive her, with patience. It took time. When I thought of her, the urge to avoid her — worse, to get back at her, and treat her in kind — was strong. But I worked hard to get it off my chest and forgive her, and then I felt much better. True, I may never be able to forget what she did to me. But when I eventually learned to forgive, it released the burden, and the floodgates of my negative emotions!

Forgiveness does not mean forgetting or minimizing the pain we feel, nor is it about excusing others. Forgiveness means making a conscious and deliberate decision to let go of our feelings of resentment or revenge, regardless of whether the person who has upset us deserves it.

So, are you ready to be free and ready to move ahead into the future?

We have to let go of our mistakes and forgive ourselves and forgive others just as God forgives us. Completely and with no reservations!

Have a wonderful life and peace!

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Previously published here and reprinted with the author’s permission.