When we forgive

Greetings!

I knew my English was barely enough for me to express my thought, relate what I understood, and share my experiences.  Thank you for your patience in reading my blog.

I found this entry in my journal.  Something must have happened, but I had not recorded it.  In the simple words that I knew, I did write down that day what I understood about 'when we forgive'.

From my journal dated 11/6/2007

When we forgive others, we are forgiving ourselves.  The truth is nobody can hurt us mentally except if we allow them to.  When somebody makes us angry, or we let their words hurt us, we are subjecting ourselves to their opinion.  However, we are responsible for our own well being.

Many times when people act negatively, they are in fact angry at themselves.  They do not know how to deal with their emotion, and vent their anger outwards blaming others for their misery.  Our immediate response can be anger for anger.  It is like we are suddenly being pushed, and we immediately want to push back.  We have to understand the anger is in him (or her), and not in us.  We don't have to react in the same angry way.  When we forgive, it does not mean we condone what others do. When we forgive, it does mean we release our reactive hurt, pain, or anger, and return to the whole me.

Love,
Q of D