The Courage to Forgive

Before I begin, I'd like you to watch a video. It is 11 minutes long, but if you have the time...I promise it is worth it.




In the video above, Jennifer Rawlings talks about traveling to Bosnia after the war and speaking to women about how they were adjusting in the aftermath. Amongst all of the sadness, all of the hurt, and all of the loss, the women all claimed their saving grace was none other than letting go and forgiving.

On my last blog, I started to talk about the book I have been reading, "The Power of Kindness," by Piero Ferrucci.

I mentioned that I was going to go through all of the standpoints of kindness listed in his book, and the second is forgiveness.

"Read the newspaper any day, and you will be struck by the amount of unresolved resentment on earth. To fully understand what this darkness entails for us all, I ask you to imagine a possibility, a paradox. 

Tomorrow morning we wake and find that everyone has forgiven everything there was to forgive, and has found the courage to say sorry for any wrongs. 

Just think: What would happen if population X forgave population Y the terrible slaughter of many years ago? And what if ethnic group Z forgave ethnic group W, which in past centuries had oppressed it, violated its women, exploited its men, mistreated its children, and plundered its possessions? What if nations A and B acknowledged each other's right to exist freely without fear and oppression, forgetting the wrongs both done and received. And what would happen if we woke up and discovered that even individuals had forgiven one another every injustice, and instead of recycling the past could at last finally live in the present?


We would all breathe a sigh of relief. The atmosphere would be immeasurably happier and lighter. And many people would discover for the first time the wonder of living in the present moment instead of constantly investing huge parts of themselves in recriminations and accusations, reliving events that are long past. Relations between people would be open. And all the energy poured into blame, hatred, prejudice, and revenge would instead circulate freely and feed thousands of new projects," ~ Ferrucci


I realize that most of my blog today has come from the mouths of other people. But both of these individuals bring up one very important point: Forgiveness takes courage.

Take a look at your facebook timeline today, or maybe even a quick glance at the news sources online.

Our culture thrives on anger, disgust, and bitterness for things we don't understand, don't agree with, or just don't like. We have TV shows dedicated to watching celebrities fail in the personal lives, and we teach children to look for "epic fails" because they are humorous to us all.

When I think back to Facebook during the past presidential election, I was saddened on many occasions on how quickly friends were starting arguments and deleting each other over different political views.

And it continues today with people's varied views on religion, human rights, and anything else you can think of.

I might start to sound like John Lennon a little here, but imagine a world where we let go of all of that hate, and without understanding everything, just start to forgive each other and live in peace.

I'm not saying that forgiveness is condoning terror or bad behaviors, please do not misunderstand this.

The point I am trying to make, is that we cannot move forward together, if we cannot learn to first forgive and let go of the past.

Until you make the choice to stop the hate inside, let go of the segregation and see everyone on a equal playing field, the rest of the world cannot move forward.

There is nothing more freeing than letting go of an ugly past.

Be courageous, and make that choice. We need more kind and forgiving people in the world, and now is your chance.

Thanks always for reading!


Be Kind,

Kelly Airhart