Forgiveness is never saying something was 'ok' - forgiveness says, I give your actions in my past no power over the goodness in my future. Forgiveness frees you up - it has little to do with the other.

This quote, taken from a newsletter published by Ann Albers, really hit me. In the past six months, I've had an experience that hurt me on so many levels. I felt betrayed, sad, used, and a host of other things. And as much as I try to walk my talk on the whole "what you think about expands" idea, I could not seem to let it go and "forgive" what had happened. For someone who has never really been a grudge holder, this felt quite foreign to me. I was angry. Angrier than I have been in a while. And try as I might, I could not let it go.

That is, until I read these words by Ann. And it totally came together for me. "I give your actions no power over me" - wow. I realized how much of my power I've given away, not only in this instance, but in many relationships. My mom went to her grave holding on to hurts 30 years in the past. She carried it with her to the end. And while I will never know for sure, it is my sense that this emotional pain contributed to her physical pain.

We all have had experiences that hurt us deeply. Some things seem so difficult to forgive. Yet, this statement says "I choose not to give this power over how I feel". Easy to say, very hard to put into practice. I choose. I can choose. That alone was hard for me to grasp. (Those people pleasers out there will totally understand this, I'm sure.) Wayne Dyer has a mantra that says "I choose peace rather than this." Again saying I CHOOSE.

With the decision to CHOOSE comes responsibility for those choices. We will talk more about that another day. For now, consider that forgiveness allows you to release that which no longer serves you and opens the door to new energy.

What are your thoughts?