Forgiveness helps restore movement to a stagnant or painful situation. It brings renewal and the possibility of healing. Forgiveness takes time and care, and it is never an obligation.
When I forgive someone, it’s a very personal process: it happens within me! To forgive is to release something that was stuck inside me, something that kept going round and round in my mind and body. It is neither accepting nor forgetting what happened. The situation existed, and now it’s been integrated; it has a place in my story, but it no longer takes up all the space.
When I forgive you, I free myself.
Forgiveness is a liberation; I break the chains that bind me to a person or a situation. The other person, or what happened, is no longer the focus. It no longer hinders my growth or prevents love from flowing within me. I can continue on my path and take charge of my life.
Forgiveness is certainly one of the greatest human faculties and perhaps the boldest of actions, insofar as it attempts the impossible—namely, to undo what has been—and succeeds in ushering in a new beginning where everything seemed to have come to an end.
Hannah Arendt