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A photo posted by Elephant Journal (@elephantjournal) on Jun 19, 2016 at 7:56pm PDT

I’ve been thinking about forgiveness lately.

I’m at the two-yearish mark of the affair. I forgave my husband for it, but some suffering shrapnel—which my body and soul continue to diligently (and, yes, sometimes reluctantly) whittle away at—remains lodged in my heart. Without forgiveness, I can’t imagine where I’d be.

When we’re hurt, forgiveness is one of the first steps in healing. Possibly the first step.

Forgiveness is what the world needs. Always.

Our political differences have been so divisive in recent years, turning us against each other.

The raping and pillaging of the earth—for profit, our own individual over-consumption and slow progress toward solutions—has turned humanity against itself.

We often forget to be mindful and say or do things we later regret.

The list goes on…

Let’s forgive each other. And our selves.

Not familiar with forgiveness? Here’s the merriam-webster definition:

for·give verb \fər-ˈgiv, fȯr-\

• 1a : to give up resentment of or claim to requital for
• 1b : to grant relief from payment of
• 2: to cease to feel resentment against (an offender) : pardon

And a line from Psychology Today about forgiving:

Mustering up genuine compassion for those who have wronged us, instead of allowing anger toward them to eat away at us…

Now for the quotes:

Life is an adventure in forgiveness.

~ Norman Cousins

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

~ Mark Twain

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

~ Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

~ Oscar Wilde

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

~ Nelson_Mandela

I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.

~ Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.

~ Robert Muller

Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

Listen. Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember.

~ Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

Keep in mind, hurting people often hurt other people as a result of their own pain. If somebody is rude and inconsiderate, you can almost be certain that they have some unresolved issues inside. They have some major problems, anger, resentment, or some heartache they are trying to cope with or overcome. The last thing they need is for you to make matters worse by responding angrily.

~ Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

People have to forgive. We don’t have to like them, we don’t have to be friends with them, we don’t have to send them hearts in text messages, but we have to forgive them, to overlook, to forget. Because if we don’t we are tying rocks to our feet, too much for our wings to carry!

~ C. JoyBell C.

Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.

~ Anne Lamott

Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.

~ Anonymous

Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast.

~ Marlene Dietrich

When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.

~ Katherine Ponder

You have the power to take away someone’s happiness by refusing to forgive. That someone is you.

~ Alan Cohen

Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person’s throat.

~ W. Paul Young, The Shack

As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.

~ Isabelle Holland

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.

~ George Herbert

Bonus (a sappy oldie but goodie)—

Like elephant love and I’m not spiritual, I just practice being a good person on facebook.

Relephant: