And what happens to us? It is possible that we were able to express our emotions at that moment, defend ourselves, try to restore the balance and respect between us, but maybe it did not happen. In that case, when moments later we become aware of own helplessness, we start replaying that situation again and again for days, months or years. Just a slight reminder of that specific situation or person turns on the wave of variety feelings from anger to sadness, which exhaust us.
Therefore, it is so important to learn to forgive. Often the word "forgiveness" brings up the image of Jesus and Mother Theresa, which are far from our reality, and usually they make forgiveness seem so difficult.
What to do in such a situation? First of all, you need to understand that forgiving is not a black and white result, which means it is not described as "all or nothing", "win or lose". Forgiving is the process, which can happen slowly and over a long period of time. Moreover, any advancement in the direction of deeper understanding of yourself, of situation, and acceptance of them is already a great achievement.
The most important thing in this journey — is not stop, but to continue doing small steps, and celebrating any progress. Let’s say that today you reach 60% forgiveness, which sounds like "I understand you and even sorry that you had to act like that", and 40% "I am still not sure if I can find inner ability to forget and let the situation go". These are wonderful results already. From this point on, I can ask myself: "What else can I do to move forward on the forgiveness path?" Because, first if all, it is important for me. When I walk this path, I give myself access to my talents, inspiration, inner freedom, joy and love.
