– Alan Cohen
One of the most powerful steps in healing from hurt and/or betrayal is also one of the first: deciding that, however difficult it may seem, we’d like to try to find a way to let go of whatever happened and move on. I always wince inside when I hear someone say something like, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m not forgiving her. Do you KNOW what she did?’ It pains me because I usually do know what the person did, and I know how much it hurt the person I’m talking to, and I know that consciously deciding not to forgive someone means the person I’m conversing with will be stuck with his or her pain indefinitely. It may take years and tons of hard spiritual work to find our way to true forgiveness, but at least when decide we want to let go of our pain and anger, we begin the process of healing, and have only to keep trying to eventually find our way to peace.