Give yourself the gift of forgiveness. The very word forgiveness is built on the root word give. Forgiveness releases your partner from your criticism and also releases you from being imprisoned by your own negative judgments. It is not surrender, but a conscious decision to cease to harbor resentment. In affect, it takes the poison our of your body. It cleanses your system of the poison that will surely fester and cause illness and continued misery if not released. You cannot take the poison and expect someone else to die. They will go on with their life and you will be the only one to continue to suffer.

Forgiveness is the key to your own happiness. Forgiving someone else takes moral courage. It ends the illusion of separation, and its power can change misery into happiness in an instant. Forgiveness means choosing to let go, move on, and favor the positive.

Forgiveness is a form of love within the context of a personal crisis. To forgive is, in a sense, to love one’s enemy. When forgiveness is given because you think you should, it no longer is forgiveness but an act of self- interest.

Robert Enright, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wisconsin defines forgiveness as “giving up the resentment to which you are entitled and offering to the person who hurt you friendlier attitudes to which they are not entitled.” Research has shown that people who are deeply and unjustly hurt by others can heal emotionally and, in some cases, physically by forgiving their offender.

Forgiveness breaks the cycle of hatred, resentment, anger and pain that is often passed on to those around you.

Forgiveness. What it’s for? It creates the freedom to create a new future beginning now!

• LoveNote. . . One pardons to the degree that one loves. Francios De La Rochefoucauld

• LoveNote. . . Love is an act of endless forgiveness. Peter Ustinov

• LoveNote. . . Genuine forgiveness is participation, reunion overcoming the powers of estrangement. . . We cannot love unless we have accepted forgiveness, and the deeper our experience of forgiveness is, the greater is our love. Paul Tillich

• LoveNote. . . To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness. Robert Muller

• LoveNote. . . You know you have forgiven someone when he or she has harmless passage through your mind. Rev. Karyl Huntley

• LoveNote. . . Forgiveness is the release of all hope for a better past. Alexa Young

Adapted from the book, "How to Really Love the One You're With."

NOTE: Since "forgiveness" is an absolute necessity for demonstrating a healthy love relationship with yourself, your significant other or your friends, we encourage you to "Celebrate Forgiveness" by reading up on the topic of forgiveness on the following link.

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