Status Updates From The Book of Forgiving: The ...

“When we stay stuck in the unhappy story of what we have done—when we make an identity out of our past actions—we deny ourselves the gift of transformation. Learning from the past is not the same as being held hostage by what we have done.”

“When people are hurting, they cannot be cross-examined out of their pain. We all want our pain to be acknowledged and understood.”

"When we are willing to let down our defenses and look honestly at our actions, we find there is a great freedom in asking for forgiveness and great strength in admitting the wrong."

“When we choose to release a relationship, that person walks off with a piece of our hearts and a piece of our history.”

“I wondered if the forgiveness had worn off. Instead, I learned that I had an expectation that my forgiveness would magically turn him into a nice guy, a different guy, a better guy. And with this expectation I was making myself a victim to him all over again. The magic didn’t happen to him. The magic happened to me.”

“The emotional regions of the brain, scientists remind us, are older than the intellectual regions of the brain. We had feelings before we could express them. This is often still the case.”

“You may not have had a choice in being harmed, but you can always choose to be healed.”