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What you have suffered after you have healed will make perfect sense. You will be able to smile at how you overcome the tears of pain.Stephen Richards
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When you forgive, it does not mean that you have submitted, it simply means that you have made a choice to stop bearing any grudge.Stephen Richards
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You are the custodian of your own happiness. What other people say, do or think does not create a basis for your happiness. It is you who decides your own happiness, just like forgiveness.Stephen Richards
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The heart is where the journey of forgiveness begins.Stephen Richards
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Locking ourselves in the situation where we wish for sympathy and want to be looked at as the aggrieved party normally makes us powerless.Stephen Richards
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The moment we become forgivers, then we are in line to enjoy the benefits of forgiveness.Stephen Richards
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The idea of forgiveness is a journey that requires patience. If the journey of forgiveness is well travelled, there is a chance that we are bound to change in a very helpful way.Stephen Richards
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Sometimes we are very convinced that what we went through needs to be re-lived so we end up going back and forth to the demons of the past and eventually we fail to get over them.Stephen Richards
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Forgiveness does not change the past, that’s for sure, but it does change the future.Stephen Richards
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The minute we put aside our self-righteousness and move away from being the aggrieved, then we are on a healing process.Stephen Richards
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The only thing that will make us remain glued to being the victim is our failure to handle the emotions that we go through and the pain that overcomes us.Stephen Richards
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When you make up your mind to forgive, your happiness will almost automatically follow.Stephen Richards
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In an unforgiving world, chaos rules.Stephen Richards
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When you forgive, you immerse yourself in healing waters.Stephen Richards
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When you forgive, you are freed from some of the feelings of disapproval and it can contribute to lessening your negative thoughts.Stephen Richards
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Offer yourself forgiveness as a gift. The word ‘give’ is the basic keyword in the word forgiveness, therefore it relays a meaning therein.Stephen Richards
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The same zeal and guts with which you were persistent not to forgive is the same zeal and enthusiasm with which you should be able to open up a new relationship with your partner, loved one or friend, one that is founded on commitment and dedication.Stephen Richards
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Your forgiveness or failure to forgive simply takes you nearer or further away from your ultimate goal. There are no two ways to deal with it, there is only one.Stephen Richards
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Blaming other people inevitably makes us blame ourselves because if we are pointing the finger at someone, practically, we are pointing it at ourselves as well.Stephen Richards
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We are often so convinced that we are so hurt and in pain, so much so that we opt not to forgive. Yet, as a consequence, that is what will make you weak!Stephen Richards
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Just because you have been through a bad experience does not give you the ticket to keep going back to that situation over and over again and dramatizing it out of proportion.Stephen Richards
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Overly playing the role of the victim can debar you from accepting responsibility for your actions and emotions.Stephen Richards
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Being joyous or happy is not something you should feel guilty about.Stephen Richards
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The idea of always wanting to be the victim in circumstances where you have been offended is a common human trait. Each person wants to be viewed as the aggrieved party.Stephen Richards
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Do the forgiveness and carry on going forward. Leave the worrying to the other person. Eat what is on your plate and leave the rest to them.Stephen Richards
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In the process of forgiveness, you can only control your own actions and decisions.Stephen Richards
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The purpose of forgiveness is not to make sure that someone ends up changing into what you expect them to be, as this is dominance. The purpose is actually to make your own life better, more worthy and less stressful. Forgiveness reduces the hold that the wrongdoer has over you and empowers you.Stephen Richards
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Assuming you are still lost in thought about when exactly you should forgive someone, well the time is NOW.Stephen Richards
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Distancing yourself from some painful event is probably the ignition for the process of forgiveness.Stephen Richards
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Failing to forgive yourself for certain wrongs you committed in the past can create self-dislike.Stephen Richards
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Other people may well not find it relevant that you have forgiven yourself, but you need to know that it is not for them anyway. Everything at the moment is wholly about you.Stephen Richards
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A broken and mended relationship turns out to be stronger than one that has never been broken, almost like how bones can become even stronger once broken and then healed.Stephen Richards
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Take a walk through the garden of forgiveness and pick a flower of forgiveness for everything you have ever done.Stephen Richards
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You are simply naturally inclined to make mistakes just as everyone else is, whether male or female, black or white, young or old. These mistakes are your school of learning, therefore forgiveness is your greatest teacher in this school of learning.Stephen Richards
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Forgiveness is not simply a single act, it is a full process.Stephen Richards
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If there ever was someone who had a control over you, someone who could cause you the greatest pain, someone who could ignore your most necessary requirements and someone for whom forgiveness were truly difficult to render, that person is none other than YOU.Stephen Richards
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All the resentment that lies in your heart is simply causing damage to you mostly.Stephen Richards
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Just because someone wakes up one morning and says, “Today I am going to be rich, ” does not automatically make them rich. So the same is true with forgiveness, it has to come from the heart with meaning, that is when it works best.Stephen Richards
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The moment we see beyond our personal desires to be felt sympathy for, that is the time we can actually start the journey to that final destination of true forgiveness.Stephen Richards
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If we studied the issue of forgiveness with a wider perspective, we are bound to opt for it after all.Stephen Richards
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Forgiveness does carry with it numerous obstacles and one may well be surprised why many people find it a very difficult hurdle to jump over.Stephen Richards
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The most basic method one can use to let go of the past is by looking at it as a learning experience.Stephen Richards
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Do not be deceived that you are weak because you have forgiven; instead be rest assured that you are now showing great strength - after all, forgiving is one of the most difficult things to do.Stephen Richards
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Remember, forgiveness is not a millstone but a milestone!Stephen Richards
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The truth is, forgiving is a rather simple concept to grasp. It is often imagined that when you forgive, you have to reconcile with someone and yet this is a larger team in which forgiveness is just a player.Stephen Richards
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The world is full of victims; don’t add to the growing culture of “I’ve a story to tell”, well not unless it’s a story to help others overcome situations or as a warning.Stephen Richards
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Do not allow yourself to be pulled into the role of embracing victimship as some sort of badge of honor to wear or flash around at any opportunity.Stephen Richards
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Before making a snap judgment, ask yourself if it really is something that has hurt you or simply just made you angry at yourself for allowing it to happen. It’s amazing what ‘sleeping on it’ can do. A new day sees a new beginning.Stephen Richards
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This pain you are avoiding is a very necessary pain that will make you strong again.Stephen Richards
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We invent what we need to get us by, but in doing so we are really continuing to hold on to the pain of yesterday.Stephen Richards