I pulled an Oracle Card from the Messages from the Guides transformation card deck this morning. This card reminds us of something very important that many of us can stand to be more mindful of. 
We are not our flaws. We all make mistakes and sometimes we can be our biggest critics and our own worst enemies. Forgiveness is a gift that releases us of guilt from past (or future) mistakes. Along with forgiveness, hopefully there is also a dose of personal growth from a lesson learned. I thought this was a great message to close out the year with: Forgiveness.
To forgive is much harder to actually do than to say. It’s easy to say we forgive but to actually forgive is to let go. It doesn’t mean to forget the wrong that’s been done to yourself either from your own doing or someone else’s. It means to learn from the deed done wrong and how it can be prevented in the future. Be mindful. Set boundaries. Then let go of the blame. Let go of the shame. Let go of the hurt. Let go of the guilt. Hold onto the lesson.
Some people who have hurt and wronged us will never ask for our forgiveness. Some people will never see their actions as harmful, hurtful or even as wrong. Some people will continue to try to hurt us, no matter what we do. This is when we have to remember that people treat us how we allow them to and it becomes imperative to set boundaries with people like that, for self perseveration if nothing else.
Holding onto a grudge is like letting a cancer grow inside us. Our negative thoughts and feelings fuel it and it grows bigger, making us sicker. A variation of the famous quote is true: “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
Why should we forgive someone who isn’t sorry?
Because the forgiveness is more for us and our healing than it is about s/he who harmed us. Forgive anyway, even if they’re not sorry.
It does not mean to apologize; it means to accept wrong was done, accept fault where you may have faulted or where someone else did. Be earnest. Be sincere. Too many apologies make one come across insincere and makes an actual apology not hold it’s weight in meaning. So, for what’s it’s worth? It’s worth less than a sincere act of forgiveness; forgiveness for others and for yourself.
