Life is a curious journey. We’re born; we learn, face ups and downs, grapple with stress and anxiety, savor moments of happiness and love, experience wins and losses, and eventually, leave it all behind.

There’s no guidebook for any of it—we’re all just figuring it out as we go, doing our best with what we have.

Imagine if we knew the key to a truly happy and meaningful life. While I can’t promise the ultimate answer, I can share some insights about life that might reshape how you live or view the world.

Forgiveness is the Path to Freedom

 

Clinging to past hurts, harboring grudges, and staying angry with those who wronged you only burdens you, impacting your emotional, mental, and physical well-being. The people who hurt you likely aren’t concerned with the impact of their actions, so why let anger keep weighing you down?

Though it may feel difficult, forgiving those who hurt you is essential for your peace of mind and health. Holding onto resentment keeps you in pain while letting go brings relief. Choose forgiveness, release them from your mind, and free yourself. Please do it for your well-being, not for theirs. Forgiveness is a powerful tool for releasing bitterness and resentment, liberating you from the lingering influence of those who’ve hurt you.

It can help simplify life, fostering compassion, understanding, and empathy toward those who caused you pain.

Some benefits of forgiveness include:

  • Clarifies accountability: It places responsibility for the harm on the offender.
  • Enhances mental health: Forgiveness has been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression.
  • Increases mindfulness: Forgiving allows you to live in the present, free from the weight of the past.
  • Promotes honest dialogue: Forgiveness encourages open communication and acknowledging the harm done.
  • Reduces stress: Letting go of pain and resentment can ease emotional burdens, reducing stress, hostility, and blood pressure.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean excusing or forgetting what happened; it’s about viewing the past with renewed compassion.

Books on forgiveness to explore:

As a survivor of violence, I never imagined reconnecting with my stepmother, who had once been my abuser. In 1993, while driving drunk one afternoon, she struck and killed a man on a bicycle. He was an undocumented immigrant with limited English, so identifying him and locating his family took time.

My stepmother reached out, aware that I’d attended a year of law school and owned a temporary legal agency, working closely with several attorneys. I decided to assist her, and in doing so, I felt my anger gradually give way to forgiveness. Throughout the trial, she expressed genuine remorse for the man she had taken from this world. His aunt, who had traveled from Mexico, extended a profoundly compassionate gesture by offering Dotti a hug.

‘She’s suffering just as I am,’ the aunt confided in me. ‘I wanted her to know I forgive her for what happened.’