To Forgive

We find it so hard to forgive others when we feel a sense of hurt. We forget just how most likely than not, we have done the same to someone else. We dwell on the matter that it has happened to us and we- a union of individuals, continuously disregard that fact that we all want second chances in life. Whether the other person on the other side feels we deserve to be forgiven or not, or the opportunity to show we deserve forgiveness. We emphasize on the pain one has caused us without acknowledging the matter for why it happened or why it was done to us. The cycle that becomes harder to break out of. 

I am not saying that all things happen to us because we have deserved it, “it  was meant to happen”, or because “it was bound to happen” due to the decisions you as an individual were making for YOURSELF, in YOUR life. No one deserves to be raped or molested, to lose a parent, to lose their house, to become chronically ill, etc. But to forgive the man/woman that killed a love one, for he/she has yet found the beauty of life-for he/she is not really living but dying slowly. To forgive the man/woman or company that fired you for he/she who has now lost a business feels they are left with less than you will ever endure. Forgive the man/woman that rapes someone, for he/she has yet recognized the beauty of having sexual relations with someone who desires it just as bad, as much as you do. I am not saying their wrong doings are to be accepted. But we must learn to forgive. And though hard to forget, put it pass us and learn from the detrimental experience for a better life.

We all want and believe we deserve better in life. We all make mistakes, take the wrong actions and say the wrong things. But we must forgive ourselves, before asking to be forgiven. We must remember that we too know someone who we “know” deep inside has a good heart despite their faults, shameful unethical actions, and spiteful beliefs. And we too, have tried to forgive them, because we knew deep inside “he/she did not know any better”. We must “be the change we want to see in the world”, as best said by the great Mahatma Gandhi. We shall start with the younger ones, with the ones that still have experienced less, heard less, and seen less. Give them what someone did not give you when you were growing up or always “thought you already knew”, so you didn’t listen. And share the importance of learning from mistakes before they happen. Give a child the chance to appreciate someone’s goods, before pointing out their wrongs. And this world may just some day be a better place than you picture it to be. 

To believe we deserve forgiveness is to forgive ourselves. And then we will learn that though one may not deserve it at the given moment, we all deserve the chance. One must work hard with willingness, to earn our trust back. Though we shall not make someone feel like they won’t ever be forgiven no matter how hard they try. We must give the opportunity, but not loose respect for ourselves in the midst of humble doings. “The only way to dissolve a bad taste in your mouth is to swallow your pride and savor forgiveness”, as said by the greatness in me.