by Dawn Billings, founder of RelationshipHelp.com
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.
When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
Martin Luther King Jr.
According the Sam Keen in his book To Love and Be Loved:
The true power of love can be measured by how much we are changed by it. . . . .
In the beginning we want to be completed by love but not changed.
We naively hope to be appreciated for our faults rather than have them corrected.
But in the give-and-take of long marriage or friendship,
when we learn that we are accepted even when we are flawed,
ever so gradually we move away from centering the world on our fragile egos.
The most important gift that forgiving offers, is freedom. Only forgiveness allows us to put painful experiences from the past behind us, freeing us to create a new day on which to build a happier future. If forgiveness offers freedom and peace, why do so many of us struggle with letting go of our past hurts?
Resentment keeps the original wound irritated, and makes room for the infection of contempt to invade us. This ‘reality of relationships’ teaches us that we will need to forgive and be forgiven time and again. Not usually just once, but over and over when we catch ourselves entering into feelings of unforgiveness again and again.What are the Benefits of Forgiveness, and who do they benefit? Personality and Relationship expert Dawn Billings talks about the importance of forgiveness in the video below.
I share the author Sam Keen’s opinion that the dumbest nine words written about love are:
Love means never having to say you are sorry.
I believe that the most powerful nine-word gift and aphrodisiac is:
I am sorry for hurting you. Please forgive me.
Forgiveness is the key to a locked heart. There is a soothing balm within its request that can heal wounds inflicted by our carelessness and cruelty. When things are going in perfect accordance with our will, love is not required. There is no need for compassion, understanding, stretching, learning, and growing. However, when we are hurt, sad, lonely, disappointed, betrayed, and misunderstood, we need love and it’s right hand forgiveness, in order to regain our connections.
Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Anonymous
Dawn Billings is a personality and relationship author and is the founder of RelationshipHelp.com Dawn is the author of the comprehensive ONLINE relationship training programs called Relationship Help At Home, and the Executive Director of the luxury Relationship Help Resort in Arizona.