Forgive—and free yourself

Is forgiving and letting go difficult for you? It is for all of us, I think. But how freeing it can be to forgive and let go. And what a ball-and-chain it can be if we do not.

I recently saw a TV clip of an interview with 31-year-old Cate Edwards, daughter of former presidential candidate John Edwards and the late Elizabeth Edwards. In it Edwards was asked about her father's affair as well as about her mother's death. The young attorney, who had been beside her father at his trial, said that she loves her father and that her family has worked through it. "I think it's easier to stay angry than it is to forgive someone," she said. "Forgiveness is the tough thing. Yes, it was hard but we worked through it."

What wise words from someone who at her age has already been through so much: the loss of her mother as well as of a brother when she was age 14—and then the devastation of her father's affair and the child born from that relationship. Yes, staying angry would have been much easier.

Wise words for all of us to ponder. Whether it's forgiving someone else—or even more difficult, forgiving yourself, it's so important to your and my well-being to do so. Carrying around all that anger and resentment slowly kills us ... and infects everyone around us as well.

Letting go isn't the same as forgetting. There are some things we cannot forget. That doesn't mean you and I can't still forgive—and let go. Let go of the emotional charge and of the pain. Let go of the anger.  You'll feel so much lighter. Joy can settle into your soul once again!