The 11th Trust: I will forgive when asked, that my own mistakes will be forgiven.

The 11th Trust: I will forgive when asked, that my own mistakes will be forgiven.

Forgiveness is not just a nice thing to do; it can serve us on our quests as a source of liberation.

The human mind has a tendency to dwell on negative thoughts and emotions. This can manifest itself perversely in our everyday lives, holding us down and dragging even us back. Painful memories that fuel constant anger easily dominate our minds, playing over and over in a continuing loop, pressing for resolution that is not always possible.

When this happens, it becomes a self-inflicted assault on our psyches. It affects us physically, emotionally and psychologically. It distracts us from a more amicable and productive way of living.

Over a lifetime of various experiences, we tend to accumulate separate yet unresolved feelings of anger into a single attitude. While we may not think of each of them directly (and can scarcely remember some), they can remain seething in our subconscious minds, influencing the way we see the world. What many of us don’t realize, however, is that this influence impedes not only our ability to acquire happiness, but our freedom as well. Unresolved anger can be so powerful that it dominates the way we treat people, and even the way we think.

The only way to escape this is to do some honest and even frightful soul-searching, find those trapped memories, see them for what they are, and let them go. That may require forgiving people who hurt you in the past. You may not want to forgive them. Perhaps what they did was unforgivable. Or the people themselves are so evil that they don’t deserve it. Nevertheless, the anger you feel is hurting you more than them. In other words, you are hurting yourself by retaining your anger, thus multiplying your own victimhood. You have become your own assailant, as well as your punishment. If you wish to maximize your experience of living in an authentic manner, that needs to stop.

This kind of forgiveness is sometimes difficult. It includes learning how to forgive ourselves for allowing anger to control us, and for hurting innocent people because of it.

It takes practice. One way to learn how to forgive yourself is to forgive others in the here and now. Stop looking for reasons to be angry. (Yes, we sometimes actually feel compelled to look for it because it supports our adopted world-view.) Try to understand where people are coming from when they don’t agree with you. Know that every person you meet has issues of their own that may be dominating their words or actions. Appreciate their good qualities, and how valuable they are. Chances are you have many points of agreement. Extend to them the patience and understanding that you want extended to yourself or someone you love.

When you feel anger building, ask yourself what benefit would be found in such a path. Are you making the situation better or worse? Will the anger you surrender to merely add to the pain inside you already?

The path to forgiveness provides our personal quests with a path for healing and liberation. When directed toward yourself, it liberates you from the burden of negative emotions and feelings of helplessness. When directed toward others, it helps not only them to get on with life, but you as well.