Forgive and forget...

There was this character who did some really mean things to me and my family and landed us in a few years worth of trouble.

I had always wanted to punch him right in the nose and break it the next time I see him.

Then, I met my teacher. My teacher taught me that carrying grudge is like carrying a fireball in bare hands, it won’t do any good to anybody and will only burn my hands hurting me further.

With this new found knowledge, I decided to forgive him and drop all the grudge against him.

After very many years, his name came up in some discussion and I could feel the seething anger rising inside my head and felt like punching something (preferably his nose)

What exactly is wrong with me? Why did I even get that thought?

I don’t normally get angry…  feel like punching is definitely not me… especially for someone whom I have already forgiven…

The answer to this came to me a few days later and the answer is

“I Can forgive what he did, but I can’t forget what he did…”

The question is, today, if that person comes in front of me -

Will I get a thought of hurting him? Yes… (I’m still a normal human being, and have a long way to go)

Will I do it? No… (I’m a strong believer in Gandhigiri)

Will I be able to respect him? I don’t know…

Have I forgiven him??? Yes… (or atleast I think I have)

Have I forgotten what he did??? No…

What I have learnt is that Forgiveness is not enough… it has to be followed up with forgetting.

Its ok to retain the lesson from the experience… but one can’t be at peace unless he forgives and forgets…

I guess the next level of my emotional growth will come when I become capable to Forgive and Forget…