Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be any different."

Oprah Winfrey--"The message that came through so clearly and stayed with me is this: Forgive, so you can truly live.  Forgiveness is letting go, so the past does not hold you prisoner, does not hold you hostage. . . .

Forgiveness doesn't mean you condone the behavior or, in any way, make a wrong into a right.  It simply means that you give yourself permission to release from your past. . . It's not holding on, hoping, wishing that it could have been any other way.

Forgiveness is like medicine--medicine that can heal your pain.  It can bring you peace.  Forgiveness is something that you do for yourself.  Forgiveness means that what someone did no longer is going to affect how you live in the present moment. . . .Unforgiveness blocks you from taking the risk of love."