Forgiveness

Why:

Forgiveness is a fundamental skill for healthy relationships and for happiness in general.

Warm-Up:

Do you ever hold grudges? Is there anyone you have not yet forgiven?

Exploration:

When we hold a grudge, we spend a lot of our energy holding on to a negative event in the past. It's like we're still hoping that the past could be different. When we forgive, even if just in our hearts, we accept the difficult past and have the chance to move on. Sometimes we may even be able to rebuild a relationship. After all, nearly any friendship that lasts long enough will have moments of tension or conflict. Our ability to forgive and move on lets us enjoy our lives and our friendships more. Could you write a forgiveness note to someone in your life? It's OK to not send it if you prefer—just the act of forgiving is powerful.

Additional Resources:

As an optional element for this exploration, here are two videos exploring this topic further:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YER_3afM20&ab_channel=SoulPancake

This asks the question "Is there someone you have not forgiven yet?" and shares many short snippets of people of all ages answering this question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwcp_oEIwnU&ab_channel=OWN

In Oprah's inimitable style, this video shares some of the wisdom from her years of interviews on the topic of forgiveness.