This week’s ” You Can Save the World: Simple Actions You Can Take”
Forgive. Before you can release your attachment to someone who has harmed you, you have to forgive that person. That can be very difficult, especially if you feel you have been badly mistreated. You may desire to extract an apology, hold the person responsible, or even to punish him or her for the hurtful action. However, holding on to those feelings will tie up your own energy and impede your own growth and forward motion.
Forgiveness is an important part of the letting go process (see article on releasing attachments). From your current vantage point, look back on the person you need to fogive and recognize his or her limitations at the time the hurtful event occurred. Forgive that person–not for the hurtful act–but for having the limitations that caused him or her to act in that hurtful way. Realize that the person did the best he or she could…given those limitations.
You must also be willing to forgive yourself. You cannot change your disappointing past actions, but you can begin again. Self-forgiveness is the first step toward that new beginning. Looking back, recognize your own limitations at a time when you did something you feel bad about, and forgive yourself. Once you forgive yourself and and release the people and events that bind you in the past, you will begin to move forward with a new sense of freedom and self-respect. We are meant to keep moving foward!