If we do not forgive, we cannot forget

A key principle to remain light and stable in relationships is – forgive and forget. It can be modified to forgive to forget. Sometimes we spend many years with so much bitterness inside us for a particular person, the one who has supposedly hurt you. If you don’t strike back immediately, you at least want to keep this guilt card in your pocket, to be pulled out at a later date: Oh yes, well what about the time when you…. We keep this bitterness inside us because we haven’t forgiven. It does not resolve the situation; the only thing it does is increase our pain, makes us heavy and does not let us remain in peace.  So the key is that if we do not forgive, we cannot forget. When someone has offended or insulted us, the last thing we want to do is to let it go. And yet, if our desire is to have a healthy, lasting relationship, that is exactly what we’ve got to do.