Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Power of Forgiveness

Remember the old adage, "Forgive and Forget"? As children, we're all reminded to forgive, and better yet to forget when bad things happen and move on. I advise a different strategy - "Forgive and Learn."

I don't see how "forgetting", or really just pretending to forget, helps anything. Instead, we should forgive and we should learn from what has taken place, and then move forward. Forgetting seems like a waste, a cop-out.

If we instead Learn from what happened, we at least have a leg up on the situation if we encounter it again. And we've grown - we've allowed ourselves to grow in some way by choosing to learn. When we forget, we choose to stagnate, to stay mired in our feelings of hurt or betrayal.

Be honest - can you ever truly forgive and forget? Isn't it easier to forgive and learn?

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