Forgiving

~ Gottfried

Sometimes the first step to forgiveness is understanding the other person is a complete idiot. Individuals might forgive, companies don’t. To err is human, to forgive is against company policy. I forgive a lot, but I only trust once. If you break my trust, that’s it. Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast. The hard part of forgiveness is letting go of what’s bitter and move on. Rest in peace Aunty, the evil you’ve done in this world is too much.

Anger. Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It only happens in the movies. Everyone makes mistakes. You’re living proof your parents made one. Anyways, if you can’t forgive others, don’t expect others to forgive you. Unless of course, you’re making them an offer they can’t refuse. Forgiving you means I no longer dwell on what a giant asshole you are. It doesn’t mean you’re no longer a giant asshole.

Smothered. Your parents won’t let you go out? I just want to let you know that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. Just say you’re going down the road and disappear for three weeks. By the time you get back, they’d be too overwhelmed from worrying about you to stay mad for long. I mean you’d get an arse-whopping still, but it’ll be with lots of love. People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself first.

Forgive and forget? I’m neither Jesus nor do I have Alzheimer’s.  The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Even the great Achilles had a weakness. Forgive, yes. Forget, never. The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest, and the first to forget is the happiest. Sounds like a three-man job to me. Maybe four? The observer. What is forgiven is usually well remembered.

Prisoner. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. What if prison let prisoners take their own mugshots. Cellfies. To understand someone else as a human being, I think is as close to real forgiveness as one can get. The hardest prison to escape is in your mind. Except of course you’re in an actual prison and there’s no escaping. Now you’re on death row and the priest has come in to help you ask for forgiveness. What do you say? God forgives, I don’t.

Nonsense. Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.  You see, when I was little, I asked God for a bike. But I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a car and asked for forgiveness. Forgiveness does not change the past but it enlarges the future. As I drive this stolen car in the open road with the wind brushing against my face. I can’t help but think, it’s yet another lovely day above ground. The reality is people mess up, don’t let one mistake ruin a beautiful thing.

Forgive yourself. For bad decisions. For the times you waved at a stranger that wasn’t waving at you but someone else. For the choices that hurt yourself and others. Forgiving her one too many chances to break your heart.  Forgive yourself for being young and reckless. For leaving the gas burner on and blowing up the house. These experiences are vital lessons. And what matters most right now is your willingness to grow from them…

and stop being a gigantic pain in the arse

© Gottfried. All rights reserved

458 thoughts on “Forgiving”

  1. Pingback: Forgiving – LOUD MOUTH

          1. Women have Alzheimer’s too: as you said they forgive but they reheat their husbands’ sins for breakfast. What a metaphor and how true.
            It has been said that “when you go through life not having forgiven another human this is like you are carrying that person through life on your back”. So I have two options: forgive my wife’s Alzheimer’s or become a professional weight lifter who isn’t bothered with carrying another human 24/7 on his back….some sort of Arnold Schwarzenegger

            Liked by 3 people

  3. Wonderful post on forgiveness. You explained it very well. I only have two thoughts. If you really stole a car because God wouldn’t give you a bicycle and left the gas burner on and blew up the house, maybe it is your parents who need to forgive.

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          1. It might not be that, but kids always do something that drives you crazy. You know they turned out all right if you are still talking to them when they are 30.

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          3. Wait a minute! It not always that way: my neighbors, an elderly couple caused a short circuit and destroyed the house they were supposed to leave to their offspring…. it’s a true story not just a banter thing to entertain….

            Liked by 2 people

          9. So it’s not always the children who burn up their parents’ house: there are parents who build a house for their offspring but destroy it with their very hands. Would you forgive and forget? Or forgive and not forget? Forget and not forgive? Neither forgive nor forget?

            Liked by 2 people

  5. After reading this, I forgive a snobbish, shallow, and talkative aunt by repeating your line “Rest in peace Aunty, the evil you’ve done in this world is too much.” At least my other overbearing and conservative relatives have the decency to keep their mouth shut.

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  9. Holding on to anger, bitterness and resentment for what has been will eat you from the inside out, make you a very ugly person and feels like you’re trudging a full military kit on your back 24/7. It’s a hard thing to let go of what hurts most and comes to us all when we’re ready. Sometimes you find it happens almost without any effort and overnight. I experienced that once and realising “You know what? I don’t care anymore. Not even angry about it or shitty in the sense “I don’t care!!” I mean – I REALLY don’t care. It feels great”

    My greatest flaw is that I’m a very off-grid vindictive nasty bastard and have that streak in me that means I can fuck somebody up whilst being their best friend but in my defence, I’ve worked hard on that and it doesn’t come to the surface and get the airtime it once had.

    If you’re inclined to believe what horoscopes say about a person, I’m the most typical female Scorpio you will ever meet.

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      1. No no – feel like that needs a fuller explanation

        It’s never without warrant or justification and to be fair, the very few people that have met that side of me fully deserved it. Last one I think was a former colleague years ago who just hated me on sight from the very first day I worked there. She was a vile person generally but went out of her way to discredit me to other people (clients and colleagues) accused me of dipping into petty cash and papers from my files started to “disappear” by which time I and everyone else knew full well she was trying to make me look incompetent and get me into shit.

        Despite taking her aside in private and giving her more than ample opportunity to just pack it in, she shifted things up a gear and took papers from a file I trundled to court and was supposed to have sworn in and filed. She made me look at twat in front of the judge, clients and although my bosses were understanding and suspected her immediately, I decided before even leaving court she was gonna get it. 👊

        Over the course of several weeks I started sabotaging my own work, taking out certain paperwork and hiding them under notes in the bottom of her desk drawers and filing cabinets. Each time my boss came in asking where the paperwork for this and that was, I sighed heavily “It was there. I know that’s no good to you but trust me – it was there. All I can do is apologise and if you give me an hour or so I’ll have it redone”

        Played the downtrodden victim neither mad nor sad just fed up and the firms partner’s went into her office, turned it upside down and found all the shit that had gone missing.

        Next thing I heard them ripping the shit out of her over it all and she was bawling and sobbing and pleading with them and then with me to believe her “I DIDN’T TOUCH THOSE FILES I SWEAR!!!!”

        She was telling the truth as well – but nobody else knew that. That was nasty of me but it was years ago and she totally deserved it. That judge ripped me to shreds because of her.

        So yeah that’s what I mean by the ability to be a nasty bastard but I haven’t done it for years. Last person that met the wrong side of me I just battered outright cos she kept hitting my horse.

        Did warn her it wasn’t just empty threats or me running off at the mouth. That was when I went sneaking like a ninja with my dog after we were hiding out watching cos I knew she wouldn’t be able to help herself. Done and dusted – no hard feelings afterwards.

        Didn’t tell Mark about that though he still doesn’t know I leathered that horrid cow.

        Dog never said a word though she’s solid 😂 😂

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  10. Hey! I came across your blog less than a month ago and trust me.. i am hooked! I love the way you write and i love what you write about! It makes me want to keep reading and it makes me laugh 🙏 so glad to have come across em

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