A secret to happiness is FORGIVENESS. It means letting go of the past. It means letting go of our feelings that we think we need to hold onto anger for the rest of our lives. If we want to hold onto negative feelings, we’ll never be happy. It’s a willingness to see the offender in the light of love, rather than in the offense that happened. It means letting go of any hope that the past could be any different. We can’t change the past, so we need to release the negative feelings attached to it and live in the present. Forgiveness is accepting that something bad HAS [emphasis added IN THE PAST] happened to you ― not accepting that it was OK for it to happen. It is accepting that it HAS [emphasis added IN THE PAST] happened and now deciding what to do next, and move on with your life.
