Can You Actually Forgive Your Enemies?

Can you actually forgive your enemies?

The question is simple: is it even possible for you to forgive your enemies? How about love them? Sometimes people do terrible things to us, things that we have a very hard time letting go. Sometimes, we feel like we just can’t forgive them for what they’ve done to us, or our friends, or family. How could it ever be possible to forgive and love these people?

I can tell you from experience that it isn’t easy. I can tell you that you will feel like you’re trying to swallow the biggest pill you’ve ever had to swallow, but it’s medicine that’s worth the discomfort. Trust me. Picture your worst enemy in your mind. Say to them, and mean it, “I love you not for who you are and what you’ve done, but for who you could be and what you could do, and I forgive you.”

It’s such a simple task, but very difficult. But that anger and hate you’ve held inside will release from you and you will feel much better. It will feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted from you.

Will you hate again? Will you be angry again when you remember what they did? Of course. But every time you do, forgive and love them again and the pain will subside. Because that’s what hatred is: pain. Hatred is and causes nothing but pain for us. The sooner we release it the better.

And when you forgive those people, when you love them for who they could be, the pain subsides. Then you have to find the will to forgive yourself for feeling that hatred. That’s always the next step. But it’s always worth it. And it will get easier and easier.

It’s not something that can be done with ease at first, but in time it will become a mental habit. Every time someone does you wrong, you will feel the urge to lash out in anger and hatred, but that mental check will resolve your pains. You will feel more at peace in your life, and you can enjoy your life more than before. Because those people that did you wrong? They don’t deserve to hold you back from enjoying the rest of your life. Don’t let them keep you down. Show them, at least in your heart, that you were always the better person.

Forgiving them and loving them doesn’t mean you have to be friends with them. It doesn’t mean you have to even interact with them in any way. What it means is peace for your soul. That’s all. I’m giving this knowledge to you to help you. Trust me, it works.

Can you do it? Challenge yourself right now to try. Again, picture the person that wronged you in your mind and forgive and love them. Hugging them works too. Now THAT is difficult, even for me, and I’ve been doing this mental exercise for a while. The thought of hugging them makes you want to reel back in disgust, I know. But if you can stomach it, you will find peace in those moments.

If you can love your enemy as yourself, you can find peace in the darkest, roughest storm. Peace, love, forgiveness, these are the things those bad people probably lack in their lives. And you don’t have to, but if you can, take the step forward and do the ultimate challenge: say you love them and forgive them to their faces. You don’t have to, but if you did, I would commend you for it.

Here’s a virtual high five for those that do.

-Henry