Forgiveness

For my entire life, I've struggled with forgiveness. I was notorious for holding grudges. I couldn't help it. When people hurt me, betrayed me or did anything wrong to me, I would get so angry that I probably wouldn't talk to them for weeks. Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly something that I'm proud of. But it's something that I've been working on recently.

Last night, I had a huge fight with someone that I really care about. Their words hurt me so much and I could not stop crying. I cried for over an hour before I finally calmed down. This person called me later that night, apologized and told me how bad they felt for what they said and did.

Now the old Chelsea would've scoffed at them and not accepted their apology but after taking the time to think about the situation and the fact that they apologized, I decided that I didn't want to be mad anymore. It takes a lot for a person to apologize and admit their wrong-doings. So I figured that if they could do that, then I could forgive them. And I did, which is a big step for me. I couldn't fathom how quickly I forgave them and I was actually pretty proud of myself.

I'm not saying that no matter what a person does or says to me, I'll forgive them instantly. I'm just saying that life is too short to hold grudges. This morning, I talked to this person again and it was so nice forgetting that the fight had ever happened. Life goes on and you have to pick your battles. Although I was upset yesterday, it isn't worth dragging out for the next few weeks or months and possibly losing a good friend.

So I'm going to continue trying to let things go and stop holding grudges. If it works out as good as it did yesterday, there must be something to it.

Happy Monday!

-Chelsea