FORGIVENESS Things happen in life that sometimes gets us offended and very angry at other people. It could be so bad we rule out ‘ever’ forgiving that other party. Beyond forgiving other people for something they have done to us is the fact there are also times we have done things either to ourselves or other people that we feel bad about, sometimes bad enough they keep us from striving, excelling or moving on with life. In a nutshell, the grievance could be towards other people or towards self.

Forgiveness breaks the cycle of hatred, resentment, anger and pain that are often passed on to those around us. Forgiveness is the key to your own happiness. Robert Enright, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wisconsin defines forgiveness as "giving up the resentment to which you are entitled and offering to the person who hurt you friendlier attitudes to which they are not entitled." The desire to forgive requires courage and commitment, and the rewards are profound as relationships that otherwise were previously ruled out could mend, thereby providing an opportunity to live a more productive and fulfilling life. We all live today in a world full of crisis, where people are unduly put under untold hardship and pressures. These vary from culture to culture and from race to race, but the facts and consequences of these pressures are the same. Inevitably, it has become a lot easier to breed dissension and discord in the society without even trying very hard. In any situation of conflict, it doesn’t matter whether you are right or wrong, if you hold resentment, bitterness or anger towards another, then you are not doing well, not just to that person, but also to yourself. This work looks at some actions that call for forgiveness, to someone else and to self, then goes on to suggest ways of ridding oneself of counter-productive attitudes paving the way for forgiveness to heal our relationships and move on with our lives.                                                                       MORE