On Forgiveness

I can't think of anything that psychologically enslaves us more than anger and regret. When you are unwilling to forgive you carry the weight of whatever misdeed that occurred like some grey fog. You wouldn't think there is a weight to fog but it is there in the absence of space--open and light and searching. How many times have you been upset by something and stayed upset, unforgiving? Days and years can pass and you can recall the source of your anger as if it is fresh. The world out to get you. But the only thing that can get you is your own mind, is how you relate, how you perceive, and whether or not you let things go. It isn't a weakness to let things slide and carry on, to forgive people for treating you wrong. It isn't as if you're opening some door to allow others to continue to wrong you. I think that's what it is--the fear of being seen as weak and/or a lack of confidence that renders one unable to forgive. But really to forgive takes strength, takes the ability to recognize that there are several other factors at play in the world (I'm thinking of crossfires and others' selfishness, I'm thinking of people like Nelson Mandela--feared and used as a scapegoat). But it isn't you versus the world. Our greatest freedom is that which we give ourselves.