Forgiveness is Freedom

Have you had a friend who was mean to you, or turned their back on you when you needed them? Are you still angry with them? It hurts when people let us down. But, don’t let the hate and anger surrounding these situations consume you. Instead, you learn to forgive. 

Forgiveness does not mean that you have to forget the harm that was done to you. Rather, forgiveness is choosing to let go of that harm and the pain it has caused you. Forgiveness brings you a sense of peace that allows you to truly move on. However, it does take time and patience to successfully forgive someone. You are not going to be able to truly forgive someone right away. It can take months or years to forgive someone, depending on what they did to you. But, by choosing forgiveness, you are acknowledging that you are hurt, and working to be free of that pain.  

A lack of forgiveness can actually make you more miserable. Holding onto negative events makes you angry and causes you to hate the person that caused you harm. Over time, you begin to relive these events, which only leads to more suffering. In fact, in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, one of the characters, Yoda, says a very important statement about this: “...Anger leads to hate. And hate leads to suffering.” 

Forgiveness is hard. But, we have to forgive because, unfortunately, there are always going to be people who are going to hurt us. And, we can’t just stay angry at them. We have to move on and live out our lives. Learning this now as a student will only strengthen you for the future, and it will ultimately allow you to be happier. 

"Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace." - Jonathan Huie.

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