– Gordon B. Hinckley
The more we believe in someone, the harder it is when they disappoint us. A few years ago, I was devastated by the uncharacteristic behavior of someone I believed in with all of my heart. If someone had told me that she would behave as she ended up behaving, I would have bet my life that it wasn’t true. Here’s the thing I keep coming back to: I have forgiven people much less important to me for much graver sins, yet I’m still struggling to forgive this person who for many years was most dear to my heart. While forgiving her is definitely at the top of my list of spiritual priorities, it is proving easier said than done. It can feel impossible to forgive sometimes, but there is nothing more important for us to strive for on a spiritual level. If you have someone you can’t forgive, can you feel how you are carrying them with you like an anchor, and dragging your resentment with you wherever you go? How your thoughts keep going back to how they wronged you, and how that keeps you from focusing on what you want to create in your life and all the blessings available to you in the now? I’m not saying that forgiving is easy, I’m just saying that it is as powerful, important, and life-changing as it is difficult, so we are wise to actively keep working on it.