Forgiveness Your Greatest Weapon

Perhaps the most significant power you have as a human being living on this Earth is the power to forgive. No matter what has been done to you, said about you, or taken from you, that loss, anger, and the problem will be a part of you. Until you wholly and thoroughly forgive the person you perceive responsible for whatever misfortune you encountered and release it from you.

Moving On

Before you can ever really start moving on with your life and grow, it is necessary to forgive everyone in your life for any wrong, accurate, or perceived. I know it sounds drastic and challenging, but it needs to be done to move on in life.

Forgive them sincerely, and you will find that weight will be lifted off your shoulders. In life, it seems inevitable that somebody will do something that will appear to be a slight to you, or it could be downright vicious.   Holding onto that thought of anger and holding a grudge against someone will only make you less of a person and stop you from reaching your potential. Bitterness is all that you will gain if you harbor ill feelings about anyone, and your life will be less because of it.

Throwing Hot Coals

Being angry at someone for something that they did, either real or perceived, will end up hurting you in the end. I heard it described as trying to throw a lump of hot coal at someone you are mad at. Perhaps you will hit them, and they might be hurt, but the only guarantee in this transaction is that you are the one who is going to be destroyed.

There are few things in life more difficult than letting go of our anger. Anger helps us cope and allows us to feel like we have power. When in reality, you are giving all of your power away. You are allowing someone else’s words or actions, determine your feelings. All you have to do is let those feelings go and forgive. All of your power is then yours.

Experiencing Peace

It is probably unreasonable to think that you can forgive everyone for everything immediately.   Like any journey, you need to start with a tiny step and then take another and keep on moving.   The momentum of your trip will build as you go. Slowly but surely, take back control of your feelings, relationships, and life.

What I have found is that when you remove the anger, the energy you previously spent on festering anger and perpetuating the negative thoughts about someone else is better and easier spent on focusing on the great things about people in your life. I feel luckier and better off because of it.

Avoid The Negative, Follow the Positive

Forgiveness will help you release all negative thoughts and feelings that can negatively impact your life. Suppose you spend your time thinking about things that perpetuate anger, fear, worry, hate, revenge, avarice, or grief. In that case, you are focusing on the negative, and it isn’t easy to be optimistic about your future when that is your focus. These emotions need to be avoided. If you are experiencing anger about something, you have the choice to let it go. If you feel fearful about something, let it go. Experiencing fear will not fulfill you or make your life whole. Let it go; you will find there was nothing to be afraid of in the first place. Worry is the same. Most of the time, fear is wasted effort 92% of the time. (read the explanation here).

Replace those thoughts with those of goodwill, sympathy, kindness, good cheer, or any idea emanating from a spirit of love, and you will be much happier. Forgive whoever wronged you for whatever they did and replace thoughts of anger and revenge with ideas of understanding and respect. You will improve your quality of life and the quality of life of all those around you.

How You Know Forgiveness Has Truly Happened

Just saying that you forgive someone is not enough for true forgiveness. It is a start, but to forgive someone and move on, you have to release all negative energy surrounding whatever event occurred.   The heat test will allow you to know if you have sufficiently done this or not. It is simple and fools proof. Think about a person or an event, and if you feel any searing pain or emotion about the activity or the people involved, you are not done with them. If you honestly experience feelings of love, peace, and well-being, forgiveness has taken place.

Quotes on Forgiveness

“Forgive all who have offended you, not for them, but yourself.” – Harriet Nelson.

“Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.” – Isaac Friedmann

“Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” – Louis B. Smedes

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” – Norman Cousins

“Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” – Hannah Arendt

“Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.” – Indira Gandhi

“Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on.” – Alice Duer Miller

“As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.” – Isabelle Holland

“Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.” – Cherie Carter-Scott

“Forgiveness is like faith. You have to keep reviving it.” – Mason Cooley

“Only the brave know how to forgive. … A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature.” – Laurence Sterne

“Remember, you don’t forgive someone for his or her sake – you forgive them for your sake.”

“Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting, nor does it mean that you’ve given the message that what someone did was okay. It just means that you’ve let go of the anger or guilt towards someone or yourself. But that can be easier said than done. If forgiveness was easy, everyone would be doing it.”

“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.” – Katherine Ponder

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” – Bryant H. McGill

“A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” – Robert Quillen

“Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.” – Anonymous

“Sincere forgiveness isn’t colored with expectations that the other person apologize or change. Don’t worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way, and time-just like it does for you and me.” – Sara Paddison

“Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast.” – Marlene Dietrich

“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” – George MacDonald

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Louis B. Smedes

“We are all on a lifelong journey, and the core of its meaning, the terrible demand of its centrality is forgiving and being forgiven.” – Martha Kilpatrick

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” – Robert Muller

“Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” – Mark Twain

“Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” – William Arthur Ward

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” – Paul Boese

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” – William Blake

“If you can’t forgive and forget, pick one.” – Robert Brault

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” – George Herbert

“Without forgiveness, life is governed by… an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” – Roberto Assagioli

I still would do whatever it takes…………..