Forgive, But Don’t Forget

Each experience offers within it an opportunity to learn,

But unfortunately, not all those experiences will be pleasant.

Things will not always work out as you expected,

People will cause you harm, there is injustice in the world

Your integrity and good sense will be brought into question

Your trust and loyalty will be betrayed.

But holding onto bitterness does more harm than good

Forgiveness, true forgiveness, will always be a liberating force.

But to forgive and then to forget means that the lessons may go in vain –

That the experience itself may lose its meaning.

Ensuring that you don’t emerge stronger and better, but rather weaker and more disillusioned.

More spiteful and resentful.

Because life is littered with teachable moments –

Lessons about ourselves and others,

Lessons about the ways of the world and the structures that govern it

About meaning and purpose, what’s important and what’s not.

And each set back provides an opportunity to either reinforce those lessons

Or to let them slip by the wayside

In this sense, to forgive and to forget, can mean an opportunity lost 

And a potential not realized 

Not allowing the harsh lessons to be the catalyst you need to drive you forward,

The catalyst that edges you closer to the fulfillment you seek.

Refining your understanding in a way that allows you to be a true embodiment of the light in the world,

A candle up on the hilltop, inspiring others to be the same.