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Kristen, prompted

January 2, 2020

A time you found it difficult to forgive someone

Whenever I share something on the internet, I try to make sure it’s 100% safe for public consumption.

hot air balloon reflection
the balloon will make more sense at the end of this post 😉

So when I saw this prompt, I felt a little stumped. How do I write about this while respecting other people’s privacy?

But then I thought about a pattern that makes forgiveness hard for me, and I decided to write about that.

So.

It’s pretty easy for me to forgive someone when they own what they did and they express empathy and sorrow for the way they hurt me.

When that happens, I just really, really do not feel like hanging on to the hurt; it feels light and easy to let go of.

Sort of like the feeling of releasing a balloon filled with helium.

But what makes forgiveness hard is when the other person:

  • doesn’t think they did anything wrong
  • does not seem to be concerned about hurting me
  • does not seem empathetic about my feelings
  • is more concerned about their own feelings than mine

Then forgiveness feels like releasing a cannonball instead of a helium balloon. You try to let it go and it just falls onto your toes!

I’m not an expert at this, but a few things help me in situations like these. Specifically, remembering:

  • A lack of forgiveness punishes ME. Forgiveness is good for me, probably even more than it’s good for the other person.
  • Holding onto resentment does not bring about any justice. It doesn’t get us any closer to righting a wrong.
  • Holding onto resentment gives the other person power over me. It lets them keep hurting me; it lets my freedom be their choice.
  • Injustices are not always mine to fix. I can try, but I only have so much power, and in the end, Jesus is going to make all the wrong things right.

« Goals I have for this year
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa says

    January 09, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    I agree with what you said. I have to remind myself of the saying not forgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It’s only hurting me by giving it thought and energy after the fact.

    Reply
    • kristenprompted says

      January 09, 2020 at 9:03 pm

      Yes, exactly. But my goodness, it is SO hard to remember that!

      Reply

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What’s Kristen Prompted?

It’s me, writing from a list of daily prompts!

Although I always have a lot going on in my head, those thoughts can tend to stay cooped up in my brain.

But when I’m asked what I think about something, then I feel like I have permission to let some of my thoughts out.

So, this blog is a collection of daily essays, written because the list of daily prompts gave me permission to type. 😉

My main blog is The Frugal Girl, if you’d like to read more of my words!

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