I have recently learnt a lot about the act of forgiveness and how important it is in moving forward. As human beings, we are bound to hurt others or ourselves; and at times, do or say things that we later come to regret. But in realising that we all make mistakes, we are able to differentiate between relationships worth forgetting and those worth saving.
People often mistake ‘forgetting’ something a person has done with forgiving them. But the two concepts don’t necessarily need to exist together. If you believe that the only way you can forgive someone is by forgetting what they’ve done, then you might lose someone worth keeping in your life.
As painful as some disagreements can be, they often bring to light problems that have been left unresolved for a long time. But sometimes we need to realise that as time goes on; people grow, circumstances change, we are never the same person we were before. By letting go of the past, we are able to forgive eachother for the wrongs we have done, even if it means we can’t forget.
Life is too short to spend our lives bitter, angry and resentful. Realise who is important to you and do all you can to save those relationships. Don’t let the small things stop you from being happy. As someone once told me: “YOU choose whether someone upsets you”. Try your best to move beyond the upset and make the choice to forgive. Because in the end, there will ALWAYS be some relationships worth fighting for.
Thuy Le (formerly known as Thuy Yau) is a freelance writer and Youth Work graduate living in Perth, Australia. She loves to share her own personal experiences about overcoming adversity, as she believes that human beings are more capable than they realise. She writes to make a positive difference in the world and to inspire others to learn from themselves and their own experiences. Her writing has been discussed on radio, won writing contests, appeared on The Huffington Post UK and major Australian sites such as news.com.au, SMH, Kidspot and Essential Kids. She has just completed her first book – a memoir - and is on the search for a publisher.