Forgiveness

“Forgiveness is an act of creation. You can choose from many ways to do it. You can forgive for now, forgive till then, forgive till the next time, forgive but give no more chances it’s a whole new game if there is another incident. You can give one more chance, give several more chances, give many chances, give chances only if. You can forgive part, all, or half of the offense. You can devise a blanket of forgiveness. You decide.”

"A woman may have difficulty releasing anger even when it impedes her own life, even when it causes her to obsessively dwell upon events years old as though they happened yesterday.  Dwelling on trauma and doing so intensely for a for a period of time is very important to healing.  But eventually all injury has to be given sutures and be allowed to heal over into scar tissue."

"How does one know if she has forgiven? You tend to feel sorrow over the circumstance, instead of rage. You tend to feel sorry for the person, rather than angry with him. You tend to have nothing to remember to say about it all. You understand the suffering that drove the offense to begin with. You are not waiting for anything, nor wanting anything. You are free to go. And though there may not have been a happily ever after, most certainly, there is now, a once upon a time waiting for you from this day forward…”

All quotes by Clarissa Pinkola Estes