Why forgive? Most people have had experiences, some profound and terrible, in which they felt resentment, anger, sadness, hatred and various forms of painful hurt feelings. They might have felt victimized.  Others might have felt powerlessness, self loathing or even contemplated suicide in response to  awful fortune.  Perhaps some have contemplated revenge. Many have likely felt pleasure when their perceived trespasser (s) suffered in some way. In all these cases other people have been involved. Other people have done something to you that you believe made you feel a certain pain. Emotional responses, particularly grief and anger, happen when things don’t go the way we hoped they would. Just like a physical injury needs to heal, these emotions seem common in human experience. Whether they are necessary or not, I don’t know. Human beings seem ready to accept a lot of ideas that might not be true, so maybe there is another way through.

Mentors, friends and others who care about you will tell you that forgiveness is the right thing to do. They will tell you it makes you a better person. They will tell you you will be stronger for it. They will tell that this is a higher path, more holy or lofty. They will tell you it feels good, that you will feel better. They will even tell you that you came into this life agreeing to be a victim and that the people involved, who you must forgive, did this for some higher spiritual reason, some soul contract you both agreed to before birth! You may struggle with forgiveness because you would like to feel like you are the better person, but you can’t quite get there. You are somehow not satisfied or you believe you have let go, feeling peaceful. Then something happens and the  feelings return.

Have you ever noticed how energetically draining it is to think about people and situations you can’t forgive. It is exhausting! It is like a really bad song you can’t get out of your mind. The hurt and pain just keep going on and on. You desire relief, but there seems to be no good way of achieving it. You find yourself feeling lower emotions that make you tired and rob you of the energy needed to live life. All those emotional states separate you from two things—your connection to your soul, the God inside of you, and your own soul’s creative expression in this life. You are  spending all your energy on a feeling, an image, a waking living dream about someone else. Bad news is, I fear that person actually benefits from it. That’s because it weakens you!!

I think there is only one good reason to forgive. It is not a “feeling” reason. It has little to do with feeling. It is a “mental” reason and is much more neutral emotionally. The truth is-in a world made of energy it is illogical, irrational not to forgive. To hold onto anything enslaves you. You are enslaved by your beliefs! Why be a slave to an idea? If you are being harmed by your relationships, change the way you are relating, change your feelings about the relationship or simply leave. But if the events you experienced as harmful to you are not happening right now, there is only one logical choice—stop giving your energy to them. It is nonsensical to do otherwise. To do so contracts your consciousness making you vulnerable. This is a smart response not some lofty response that makes you better than others. There is no such thing as being better than others. There is such a thing as being wiser than others. Be a good steward of the energy God gives you everyday.

Remember, we are  less than a water droplet in an ocean of oceans, but what happens in the universe happens to us. Broaden your focus. Let go of everything that interferes with knowing. Everything that happens is nothing more than information. Every perceived  harshness on the path is the universe saying “not this way.” Align with sanity and others on that path. Let everyone and everything else go.