Old 01-10-2014, 10:50 PM
  # 9 (permalink)  
Ifnotforgrace
Recovered People Pleaser
 
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Heart of Dixie
Posts: 391
If you have not been wronged, you have no need to forgive. The fact that you have been wronged is a given when it comes to forgiveness. For me forgiveness is not about restoring the offender to the position they held in my life prior to the offense, but about letting go of the hurt & any resentment associated with it.

Forgiveness is an act of will and can be done regardless of the temperature of the heart. I may also need to let go of some expectations. It would be silly to trust an untrustworthy person. It also avails me nothing to hang on to the hurt of betrayal or to be absorbed in anger or resentment at the person who committed the act. I can acknowledge the pain and grief the loss of trust and then be proactive in my recovery process by realizing that everyone including me has character defects. Some people have not dealt with their defects and may never.

That is not my business. My Business is not seeking revenge (two wrongs will never make a right), not requiring amends and not judging another's defects to be "worse" than my own. Have I too not wronged people, was there not a period when I would not have concerned myself with that fact? Have I neglected relationships? Not done what I know I should have done in a situation? Has my HP forgiven me for such acts?

I can turn over whatever Karma or consequences another might face to their HP and seek help from my HP to do so. I can ask for help in healing. I can learn from my misjudgments or the mistakes of others. I can detach & maintain my peace and serenity.

I need not tolerate unacceptable behavior, but I can realize that wallowing in self-pity or holding on to anger will not alter the situation. Not even God can change the past. It can only be accepted as it was. Today I will not place my focus in the past. I have learned and I will focus instead on moving onward and upward.
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