The Daily Reminder - Day 26: Emotional Health + Forgiveness

Forgiveness. Such an easy word to say, but such a hard word to DO. I talk about forgiveness in therapy a lot. When we are hurt or sad or broken, there is almost always forgiveness that is needed to resolve those things.But the tricky thing about forgiveness is the misconception that forgiveness is something you do for someone else. To someone else. You say, "I forgive you." However, the real truth about forgiveness is that it isn't something I do FOR the other person, it is an act of freeing myself from the hurt, pain, frustration caused by the event between me and someone else.Let me clarify that again. Forgiveness is not something you do for anyone else. It is all about freeing your own emotional pain.Furthermore, it most certainly does not mean that what happened was okay, or justified, or correct. It does not mean that we have to allow that person to keep hurting us. It does not mean the other person "wins." Although these are all myths that folks believe that only keep them from feeling the healing that forgiveness brings.So today, I want for us to start that journey of forgiveness with someone we feel hurt by. Just start the exploration of what it might feel like if you didn't carry that hurt and anger anymore.  And once we are able to see the beauty beyond the hurt, we will have the courage to step into forgiveness.Recap from Day 25I have so many people to be grateful for. I could go on and on about how many people I could have written a letter to yesterday.  And as I was reflecting, I found myself feeling more and more grateful. What a great snowball effect?!? I hope that we will continue to share our gratitude like this on a more consistent basis. Maybe it is every week? Maybe every month? Maybe everyday? All I know is that having more gratitude, and sharing more gratitude, in life can't be a bad thing.