Even If Your Heart Is Broken, Forgive

Ivan Karasev
Ivan Karasev

I think sometimes we get caught up in the wrongs that people inflict on us. We get hurt and we get bitter. Understandably so, but instead of letting that pain dissipate, we keep it close to our hearts. We stay angry and hard. And in doing so, we unknowingly make the burden on ourselves even greater.

Forgiveness is one of those things that we unconsciously attribute to weakness. It’s like vulnerability or humility; we see people that forgive wrongdoings, or people that give others the chance to destroy them, or people that let others shine brighter than them as foolish. We see them as fragile. We see them as less strong, merely because they are allowing their hearts to be the decision-makers. They are allowing their hearts to be open, rather than closed-off and cold.

For some reason we think that having a guarded heart is strong. We believe that letting people in, that letting go is weak. But the truth is, learning to trust, to open, to forgive, and to release your pain—those are the strongest things you can do.

The truth about forgiveness is that it sets your heart free.

You could be hurt in the deepest of ways, but when you choose to see that people are sinful and need love, when you choose to look at the bright side of every aching situation, when you choose to let go of all the things you cannot control, especially what others do to you, you free yourself.

Forgiveness is one of those things that allows you to move forward. It allows you to grow. It allows you to no longer be affected by what has happened to you, and instead allows you to focus on things that make you happy.

Forgiveness builds you. It builds you because it helps you erase negativity and instead embrace the good that’s all around you. Forgiveness blesses you. Forgiveness rescues you.

Forgiveness strengthens you because it makes your heart a powerful weapon. In forgiving, you help the one that has hurt you seek their own healing. And in turn you are healed.

See, I think the world has it all wrong when it tells us to turn a cold shoulder, to seek revenge, to cut off those that have hurt us. Yes, there is something to be said for removing toxic people from your life, and you definitely should if you’ve been hurt by that sort of person.

But the first step in saving yourself is to forgive.

When you forgive, you let go, and you leave that painful past behind you. You are no longer weighed down from pain. You are no longer broken. All because you chose to heal.

So even if you are shattered, even if you can’t see yourself ever becoming whole again, even if you carry bitterness close to your heart—forgive. Because forgiveness will change your life. It will mend your broken pieces. And it will leave you even stronger than before. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Marisa is a writer, poet, & editor. She is the author of Somewhere On A Highway, a poetry collection on self-discovery, growth, love, loss and the challenges of becoming.

Keep up with Marisa on Instagram, Twitter, Amazon and marisadonnelly.com

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