Alphabet of the Heart – F is for Forgiveness

In my experience, forgiveness is a gift that you give to yourself.

Most of us are taught to believe that forgiveness is something we need to do for others.   Someone hurt me, I need to forgive them. Most of us have been taught that it is something we do for other people. They say…“Forgive them!”  “Let it go!”

Forgiveness is just that… “for”…”giving”.  Forgiveness begins with yourself.  It is an inside job.

Actually it is not something that can be given to someone else unless the other person is open and ready to receive it.  And they have to be in a state of awareness that they need your forgiveness.  If they do receive it, they are also actually forgiving themselves (at least in part) because they have to allow your forgiveness in and that has to get past self judgement.  It is for-giving, but mostly it begins inside ourselves.

The first step is acceptance of the situation at hand.

 

Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.

 

 

In the dictionary and thesaurus, forgiveness is sometimes linked with pardon, absolution, understanding, tolerance, clemency, mercy, acquittal and clearing…among others.

Aren’t those some lovely possible gifts to receive?

In an article from the Mayo Clinic, I found this definition of the purpose of forgiveness.  “Forgiveness can even lead to feelings of understanding, empathy and compassion for the one who hurt you. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or excusing the harm done to you or making up with the person who caused the harm. Forgiveness brings a kind of peace that helps you go on with life.”

What I hear in that is the purpose is to bring you peace and inner freedom.  That is a powerful gift worth receiving.  When you forgive someone else, you cannot guarantee they will receive that. But it can be contagious.  It begins with you.

Freedom is a gift of forgiveness. 

What are we giving?

We are giving acceptance, love, freedom from judgement, freedom from anger and much more.

We are giving ourselves the gift of Grace to live in the present moment, free from burdens of the past and free to move forward.

We are giving ourselves more room in our hearts to receive love, peace and joy.  Freedom gives your heart wings so that you can give more.

 

A lack of forgiveness chains us to the past.  I have often found it is present in depression of various kinds.  But it is chains of our own making that keep us stuck in it.  Freedom begins and ends within us.

Forgiveness and receiving the gifts it brings, begins with a decision.   And it often takes courage.  I encourage you to make it a daily practice.  Forgiveness is like bathing in pure love.

Forgiveness cleans the Heart.

What I learned when I finally forgave someone else is that what was left was a need to forgive myself. And when I forgave myself, I learned that God had forgiven me long ago.  What I learned about forgiveness was that I was giving myself freedom and peace.  It is a critical and required step to coming Home to your true self and your Heart.  It opens doors you didn’t even know were closed.

Forgiving yourself is like taking a shower in pure love.

So, in this moment, my Heart is encouraging me to practice self-forgiveness 🙂

I forgive myself for not including a brand new illustration on this post and not creating a new coloring page either! And I forgive myself and my inner critic for judging myself for all of that!

Whoo-hoo! I just received compassion, understanding, mercy, and freedom to move on to G is for Grace and Gratitude!  That is the topic of the next post as my Heart continues to remind me of what I have learned by following it.

If you like coloring, there are many free pages available.

Always follow your Heart in all ways…