"Forgiveness requires a line to be drawn"

This link has a thoughtful post on forgiveness, it's about going forward, and benefits the forgiver. (The site is about mindmapping, which I haven't tried, but it might be a helpful exercise in working through forgiveness.)

I especially like this quote: “Forgiveness is letting go of all hope for a better past” – A Course in Miracles

"If you focus on the hurt, you will continue to suffer. If you focus on the lesson, you will continue to grow."

Hmmm, the original link was removed. I think it was this site:

(In case links get removed again, it's mindmapinspiration dot com/drawing-the-line-of-forgiveness )

Forgiveness is nobody else’s business only your own. ...The very second you forgive, totally, 100%, a weight lifts from your shoulders and you can start anew. It only takes a second; you can be in the same minute, let go and suddenly everything changes. A release of a thought based burden that only you carry; only you keep alive and only you can drop. What are you dropping? A story of the past that has already left you.

 

Forgiveness requires a line to be drawn.

You draw a line and say, ok, from now on I am only ever going forward not backward. In other words you accept and recognize there is only one true direction. The reality of now and the reality to come as opposed to a thought based non-reality called “past” that lives on only in memory.

"Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace." —Jonathan Lockwood Huie