“Forgiveness is not about letting someone off the hook for their actions, but freeing ourselves of the negative energies that bind us to them.” – Satsuki Shibuya

Every one of us is owed some form of apology that we will never get. Many times, the people who have hurt us or failed us have no idea the pain they caused. Other times, the pain and hurt were intentional and the wounds are raw.

The greatest gift you can give yourself is to realize that forgiveness does not depend on the person that hurt you – forgiveness depends on you. One of the most important self-loving acts that you can do is to forgive those who have hurt you – and forgive yourself.

When you make the choice to forgive, you can release pent-up bitterness, stress, anger and sadness. You decide to make peace with what has happened, and you move forward in the knowledge that you deserve peace. You deserve loving energy to fill the space of past hurts.

Think kind thoughts, and show yourself some compassion. When you go over scenarios and conversations in your mind that, change your inner dialogue. Instead of thinking, “why did you say that?! He’ll never love you now, look what you’ve done.” Think about what you would tell your best friend, if she was the one telling the story. “You were really hurt and angry. You didn’t know a healthy way to approach the conversation, so you did the best you could. You’re human; everyone makes mistakes.”

Be gentle with others and with yourself – we are all on our own journey.

The post Day 12/14 of Self Love :: Forgiveness appeared first on Tiny Devotions.