For me, it has never been quite easy to forgive. Forgive anybody who has hurt me. The hurt has, in most cases, stayed on with me since my memory is quite sharp and I usually tend to remember situations and encounters of injustice that I have faced in life. I must admit, that to forgive one has to be brave, full of strength and compassion and willing to look beyond what I call the situation that one is faced with. Reconciling forgiveness and justice is not as easy task for anybody. To forgive, one has to be sure of the fact that justice has been delivered and now one can move ahead in life. More often than not, we tend to be too caught up in situations, engulfed by anguish and hurt that consumes us more than the person whom we pronounce guilty of committing the act of injustice.
I am yet to arrive at a situation in life where justice and forgiveness have crossed roads, trying to meet up. One or the other has always eluded me. If I am able to forgive, a sense of injustice creeps on within me and I begin to question the validity of forgiving the person who hurt me. A sense of justice renders me a proud and arrogant person who then assumes a mask of victory, while believing that when I have got what I deserved, forgiving the one who did wrong is immaterial. Trying to thus bring justice and forgiveness on the same platform is an arduous task. There have been instances of friendships going sour for me. The feeling of having done too much, having invested so much of my energy in a relationship without getting much in return except bitterness and an ungrateful attitude. At times, I have forgiven people for the sake of it. At times, it has been for letting ill-feelings drown because I was harbouring them at the cost of my own health and peace of mind. There are times when I have forgiven just to move on, because holding on to things was making life difficult. Over time, I realize that I have to make a conscious choice to forgive, it does not come quite naturally to me.
Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong and the compassionate. It is quite misunderstood to be a trait possessed by weak and mild people who are believed to lack the courage to hurt people. Is there any sense of victory in harming people just because they have not been kind to you? It in fact gives rise to a series of chain reaction and leads to a situation that turns quite ugly for the parties involved. You might never want to end up face to face with that person, never want to communicate with him/her, never want to be left alone to tackle a situation with him/her. The power of forgiving is such that it not only heals the person who is the perpetrator of 'hurt' but also the person who has been the victim of injustice. Forgiving is key to healing, to moving on, moving ahead in a positive manner. It is the key to peaceful co-existence since the sooner we forgive, the better the bonds can be forged. Forgiving is quite an under-rated value attached to peace. It is often ignored and its significance not realized. One can forgive and can thereby move closer to peace. It is difficult but it is a sensible choice that we can make for a better and more peaceful world. Forgiving does not require one to look outward. For forgiving, all you need to do is shed perceptions of you as strong and the 'other' as weak, you as morally invincible and the 'other' as morally inferior. The moment we stick to positions of power and elitism, it removes us from the processes and dynamics of forgiving. Every major religion in the world talks of forgiving as an act that leads us to a better world, a human race that is more compassionate, kind and accommodating. You forgive because you want to and not because you wish to prove a point. Forgiving from the standpoint of mercy and superiority will not be helpful because these are values that belittle the 'other' and hence your forgiving nature may vanish into thin air within moments. You will stay aggrieved, if you do not forgive from the depth of your heart, giving the 'other' an opportunity to reconsider what he/she did to you. Forgive because you want that this world should be full of people with smiles and not people with grudging hearts and faces. It is good to forgive. It is peaceful to forgive.
I am yet to arrive at a situation in life where justice and forgiveness have crossed roads, trying to meet up. One or the other has always eluded me. If I am able to forgive, a sense of injustice creeps on within me and I begin to question the validity of forgiving the person who hurt me. A sense of justice renders me a proud and arrogant person who then assumes a mask of victory, while believing that when I have got what I deserved, forgiving the one who did wrong is immaterial. Trying to thus bring justice and forgiveness on the same platform is an arduous task. There have been instances of friendships going sour for me. The feeling of having done too much, having invested so much of my energy in a relationship without getting much in return except bitterness and an ungrateful attitude. At times, I have forgiven people for the sake of it. At times, it has been for letting ill-feelings drown because I was harbouring them at the cost of my own health and peace of mind. There are times when I have forgiven just to move on, because holding on to things was making life difficult. Over time, I realize that I have to make a conscious choice to forgive, it does not come quite naturally to me.
Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong and the compassionate. It is quite misunderstood to be a trait possessed by weak and mild people who are believed to lack the courage to hurt people. Is there any sense of victory in harming people just because they have not been kind to you? It in fact gives rise to a series of chain reaction and leads to a situation that turns quite ugly for the parties involved. You might never want to end up face to face with that person, never want to communicate with him/her, never want to be left alone to tackle a situation with him/her. The power of forgiving is such that it not only heals the person who is the perpetrator of 'hurt' but also the person who has been the victim of injustice. Forgiving is key to healing, to moving on, moving ahead in a positive manner. It is the key to peaceful co-existence since the sooner we forgive, the better the bonds can be forged. Forgiving is quite an under-rated value attached to peace. It is often ignored and its significance not realized. One can forgive and can thereby move closer to peace. It is difficult but it is a sensible choice that we can make for a better and more peaceful world. Forgiving does not require one to look outward. For forgiving, all you need to do is shed perceptions of you as strong and the 'other' as weak, you as morally invincible and the 'other' as morally inferior. The moment we stick to positions of power and elitism, it removes us from the processes and dynamics of forgiving. Every major religion in the world talks of forgiving as an act that leads us to a better world, a human race that is more compassionate, kind and accommodating. You forgive because you want to and not because you wish to prove a point. Forgiving from the standpoint of mercy and superiority will not be helpful because these are values that belittle the 'other' and hence your forgiving nature may vanish into thin air within moments. You will stay aggrieved, if you do not forgive from the depth of your heart, giving the 'other' an opportunity to reconsider what he/she did to you. Forgive because you want that this world should be full of people with smiles and not people with grudging hearts and faces. It is good to forgive. It is peaceful to forgive.
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