How to Forgive Someone – 5 IDEAS on Forgiveness

The inspiration behind writing How to Forgive Someone and Move On was because of listening to Tim McGraw’s song “Humble and Kind.” One line says not to hold a grudge because “bitterness keeps you from flying.”

How to Forgive and Move On

The song inspires us to live a good life, but the line on forgiveness in the song just stopped me in my tracks. Learning how to forgive someone who hurt you intentionally is a lesson we should all know.

Forgiveness is one of the most challenging things we can learn in our lifetime, but when you realize you allow someone else to continue to hurt you long after the darkness has passed, it means they have control over your future.

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How to forgive someone and let go is hard. Really hard.

I wish the world were filled with only kind and loving people, but as we all know, that’s not the case.

I’m not an authority on forgiveness. I have had difficulty forgiving some people who have crossed my path.

Listening to that song shifted things a bit for me because I realized that it’s so important in life to offer the world your finest self. Your best self isn’t offered when you’re spending your life reviewing the bad things that have happened along the journey.

Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you approve of their character or that what they did is acceptable. It just means you love yourself enough to move forward and let go of what no longer serves you.

You owe that to yourself and those that you encounter in your life.

Forgiveness also doesn’t mean you’re obligated to have the person in your life anymore.

Some people can pray and offer forgiveness, and the weight immediately lifts off their shoulders.

Others forgive a little bit at a time until the negative thoughts of the individual are finally released, and they can move on.

Unfortunately, most of us continue to hold on to anger and repeatedly replay the movie of what happened in our heads. Not forgiving does so much damage that you are still determining how to fix it.

“By far the strongest poison to the human spirit is the inability to forgive oneself or another person. Forgiveness is no long an option but a necessity for healing.”

Caroline Myss

This article applies to everyone that wants to move on with their life

• How to forgive yourself
• How to forgive someone who cheated
• How to forgive your parents
• How to forgive someone who keeps hurting you
• How to forgive someone who isn’t sorry
• How to forgive yourself

It’s the same formula for whoever the person is that needs to be forgiven.

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1. How to Forgive and Let Go

You know, for your well-being, you should forgive people. You’ve tried before, but it was just too hard.

Even when you know by not forgiving, you only do continuous damage to yourself.

When you finally realize that you’re part of a bigger picture and that by not forgiving, you’re not allowing yourself to be an instrument for creating more extraordinary things. This awareness might be enough to shift your perspective.

This outlook changes your focus from the person who hurt you to the unrealized gifts you have to offer the world.

The world needs the light you only have to offer; no one is worth dimming it.

After encountering someone in my life who caused me a lot of pain, I turned my focus to bringing projects languishing in my file cabinets to life.

I’ll bring positive things out into the universe by tackling these projects.

Whenever I think of the person, I immediately start working on a task that will help me complete a project.

2. Hold a Ceremony

Write a letter to the person in question detailing your version of what happened. Detail how their actions caused you hurt.

Once you spill every ounce of your thoughts of this person on paper, build a bonfire and burn those words. Now, you will let the past go up in smoke and find out who you are without those anchors.

It might take you more than one try to release the pain.

3. Focus on the Lesson

Sometimes, people come into your life to teach you something about yourself.

We are too close at times to understand the purpose of the interaction, but if you can distance yourself enough to view the problem without emotion, you might learn a valuable lesson.

You hear of victims who created a support system to help other victims of the same situation. What was one thing you learned from the experience, and how can you help others who encounter the same thing?

Is there a new path this experience took you on, and how has that improved your life?

Maybe what you gained was the strength to get you through other hard times.

4. Refuse the “Gift”

Someone I once knew who was incredibly wise told me that every day, you have the choice of accepting someone else’s present.

He said the gift is usually cheerfully wrapped in the package with a colorful bow, but inside the present is hate, anger, insecurities, emotional immaturity, and fear.

These “gifts” come in the form of gossip, personal jabs, racism, and hurtful acts.

People are suffering and trying to share their burdens with you. Participating in these acts will harm others and yourself.

This wise sage told me you always have a choice in life whether or not you want to accept the box.

If you decide to take the gift, you will carry the burden along with the person who gave it to you.

It’s time to drop those perfectly wrapped presents into the trash, forgive the person who gave them to you, and realize you had the power to refuse them all along.

How do you let go of the past? You let go of it by knowing that you have a choice to carry someone else’s burden into the future.

5. Prayer

This idea is a bit hard.

The next time the thought of the person that betrayed you enters your mind, do something different. Instead of reliving the harm, bless them and send them on their way.

Realize that you are dealing with a hurt individual. They have to live with themselves every day.

Once you feel betrayed or hurt at a deep level, you don’t want anyone to experience what you went through.

In your mind, thank them for coming and letting them know you no longer need their visits.

Bless them and refocus your energy. Do this until it becomes a habit.

Never underestimate the power of prayer. We could all use a little help getting us out of our own way. Praying for guidance might be just what you need.

If you’ve tried everything and still haven’t achieved the desired results, you might also want to consider seeking professional guidance.

Who would you be if the unpleasant memories of the past hadn’t happened?

Envisioning our best selves might be something every one of us needs to reflect on. It’s not too late.

I hope one of these ideas will help you find forgiveness and move forward with your life.

How to forgive someone who has hurt you emotionally will be worth the effort you put into releasing the toxic energy.

Do great things with your time on earth despite what has happened to you in your past. You were meant to fly, little eagle.

So fly. Then soar. The world is waiting.

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