The Power to Forgive

Forgiveness, on a daily basis, frees my soul from eating me up with too much anger and resentment. Yes, I need to forgive the neighbor whose ignorance injured my beautiful cat and caused me pain, aggravation, and money at the vet. Yes, I need to forgive an acquaintance for being inconsiderate and saying things that hurt my feelings. Yes, I need to forgive those people who have left my life and not phoned me or given me any other kind of attention and left me wondering if I did something wrong--people who have moved on and out. Yes, I need to forgive people and things they did during my childhood: the mother who always worked so hard and was not home much; the brother who was cruel to me most of the time; the neighborhood boys who came on to me sexually when I was very young and scarred both my body and my psyche; the grandmother who said things that made me feel "less than," who was suspicious of everyone and told my friends, among other things, to leave my home.