When you forgive someone, you do not give that person a benefit, rather you release your own trauma.
By Philip G Rochford — Written on Jan 20, 2015
The Root Of Forgiveness
Your spirituality and happiness are adversely affected when you respond negatively to someone who has hurt you. The natural human tendency is to think unkindly about the person and situation, and to hold negative energy in relation to the hurt. Progress on your spiritual journey demands that you release the negativity through forgiveness.
Nature Of The Hurt
When someone hurts you there are three major aspects to the hurt:
- Your reaction to the situation.
- The reaction of the other person or persons involved.
- The spiritual and material outcome of the situation.
You can nurture and build on the hurt over time. If you do, you are only hurting yourself. The negativity is in your mind. It will manifest as a block in your bodily energy system, and this distress will hurt you.
Imagine that a heavy iron ball attached to your leg represents the hurt. As you go about your daily business, your forward progress will be negatively affected by having to pull the weight of the ball that you are carrying.
Release The Hurt
When you forgive someone who has hurt you, the iron ball that it represents is released and you can then be more successful in life. The act of forgiving the person gives you freedom from a heavy burden that you were carrying. Thus, to forgive benefits you rather than the person forgiven.
The act of forgiving can be made directly to the person who has hurt you, or it may be made consciously outside the person’s presence. The person who has hurt you may not be fully aware of the damage that has been done to you.
The Other Person
Quite often the person has forgotten the event while you are still thinking about it. Yet still, the person may have asked the Creator forgiveness and moved ahead with life. Your keeping in mind such a person does nothing to the person. If the person also feels as an injured party and is bearing you malice, then that person will similarly damage himself/herself.
A common viewpoint is "I will forgive but I will not forget". In a real sense, when you forgive the slate is wiped clean. You carry the scar but not the wound. What you ought not to forget is the lesson you learned, so that you will not repeat the same mistake .
Also, by learning the lesson, you do not expose yourself to a similar situation with the same person or any other person. To experience true freedom do not continue to keep remembering the person in relation to the hurt. Release the iron ball attached to your foot and move on in your life more effectively.
Your mind is powerful. Your mind stores, and can recall events that occurred many years ago. You have the choice to harbor or release events that you have experienced. When someone says or does something that hurts you, it is usually difficult to think kindly of that person. You can dwell on the hurt, or you can release it.
Let Go Of The Hurt
How do you let go of this horrible hurt? This can be your golden moment of decision to tap into the POWER OF FORGIVENESS. You can decide at this very moment to release your baggage of past hurts.
Forgiveness releases the putrid energy that you have stored within yourself. Forgiveness does not give a benefit to the person who hurt you. It releases the mental clouds that distort your own power to rise to your best self.
The spiritual concept is what you sow you will reap. If you do not forgive others, your own errors will not be forgiven. Remember that part of the Lord’s Prayer, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us ... "
Moreover, forgiveness and release are important aspects of love. When you tap into the power of forgiveness, you will unleash your undoubted greatness. Make mental room for the gifts that the Universe wants to unfold to you. Make room for the best days ahead of you by releasing the pain of past hurts, through the power of forgiveness.
You can do it. Just decide. Perhaps you can progress on your spiritual quest by increasing the level of forgiveness in your life. You are human and imperfect.
Free yourself of guilt. Learn from the experience and not repeat the same mistake. This is all that can be asked of you. Of course if you have wronged someone you must apologize and ask their forgiveness.