25 Feb 2010

The power of Forgiveness

Hi my dear friends, welcome once more to The Light Planet!

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about forgiveness, yes, forgiveness my dears, as others have said before “to forgive is divine”, but Oh what a challenge it is!, is it not?

We have all found ourselves facing a situation where we have been affected by somebody else’s acts, whatever the sort, we have all at some point received an apology and the request for forgiveness from someone who has harmed us in any way. But surely we have also found ourselves in the other side of the street, where we have been the ones to have harmed someone, and asking for forgiveness.


How noble is the act of asking for forgiveness, admitting our mistake, becoming more humble in front of others and asking for compassion. For he who asks for forgiveness from his heart; does not seek to justify himself, he who really asks for forgiveness does not request comprehension and understanding, but only compassion, acknowledging that his/her actions have caused a non-desired effect, and most likely, a proper damage to a beloved one.

To ask for, and give forgiveness, frees us, takes a heavy weight away, relieves us, allows us to learn, takes us farther and farther from pain, it connects us with compassion, empathy and also with our humbleness, for to ask for forgiveness and forgive we must become conscious that we all need forgives at some point and also that we all deserve a second chance.

To forgive, as an act of liberation, is to “let go”, “release” that offence or damage, give it away until forgetting it, make it part of the past. Perhaps this is the reason why we find forgiveness hard, because we find it hard to forget, to let go, but, do we really want this rancor and resentment in our emotional baggage?, do we truly want to carry it around with us and make it part of our daily lives?

Thinking about forgiveness, I wanted to know more and I learnt the following: Forgive its composed by:

for” (exact translation of the Latin “par” meaning: by) and “give” (translation from the Latin “donāre” meaning: give, gift, donation)

Even in its etymology, forgiveness declares itself as a “gift”, as donning, delivering a gift voluntarily. ‘By gift or by grace‘, we forgive others, which at the same time frees us. How noble it is to forgive and how wide its field of action! If I had to describe it physically, I would say it’s a soft, pleasant and refreshing balsam that soothes the soul of he who asks for forgiveness as of he who gives it.

From the depth of my heart I wish us all to always be able to ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness when required, emptying so our baggage, releasing the heavy weights and keeping with us only that which enlightens and lifts us.

Receive a BIG hug!

2 comments:

  1. A very wise post on the gift of forgiveness! The world would be such a different place if we all asked for, and gave, forgiveness regularly...
    For anyone wanting to explore deeper the topic of forgiveness, I found the following resources to be extremely helpful: Martin Doblmeier's documentary "The Power of Forgiveness" (a BEAUTIFUL film that looks at remarkable case studies of forgiveness), and Dr. Fred Luskin's book Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness. This book is as helpful as any, if not more so, in taking you through a methodology of forgiveness that truly anyone can practice.
    I love this topic and hope the conversation continues! Blessings!

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  2. Carly, thank you sooo very much for your recommendations, will definitely look for them!
    Big hugs!

    ReplyDelete