The term “forgiveness” is not something that is really open
to interpretation. Forgiveness is the act of forgiving someone. There’s not
really much else to be said about its actual meaning. What is open to interpretation is how far forgiveness goes, when it is
logical to forgive, how many times to forgive, etc.
I have always been a very forgiving person. I am willing to
give second chances, third chances, or more. It has always been my view that
everyone has good in them. As such, I am prone to overlook wrong doings. Unless
the act is done for purely amoral purposes, there is always a chance that I
will forgive it. That fact, coupled with my trusting nature, results in a
policy of forgiveness for me.
I have forgiven many things in my life. Some were big. Others
were small. Small things such as insults
and being annoyed by someone are things that are easily forgiven, and I have
forgiven many such things. I will forgive small things an almost infinite
number of times, because they are small. Assuming they even phase me at all, of
course.
Larger things, however, can take a bit more willpower to
forgive. Things like physical harm and harm to my property may make me angry.
If they do, the offender may or not need to remedy the harm before I forgive
them. It all depends on circumstances. If you steal money from me, I will be
angry at first. If that money was going to be for something important, I would
not be likely to forgive you unless: a) it works out anyway or b) you repay me.
If any of those two things are true, I will forgive you. If neither of them is
true, don’t expect an “It’s okay” from me. If you steal money from me, but it’s
not for anything important, I will not be too affected, and therefore I will
forgive you.
If you physically harm me, my tolerance also depends on
circumstances. If it was an accident, I would forgive you right away, and
kindly ask if you could help me out. Whether you say yes or no, I will still
forgive you, since it was an accident. Such would be the case unless my medical
bills are far out of my range. If that is the case, I will still forgive you,
but I will take you to court, out of necessity. If you harm me on purpose, I am
not likely to forgive you at all. No matter what you do, if you harm me
intentionally, I will not forgive you unless you had a VERY good reason to
injure me (there are such cases, though they are rare).
Finally, there are things which I will never forgive. I will
never forgive acts of unspeakable evil. Things such as irreparable
psychological damage, rape, murder, molestation, theft from the people, and
other such heinous crimes shall never be forgiven by me, unless a) they are
done to someone who is equally amoral or b) they are done for a very moral
cause (only applicable for murder and theft from the people). If a) is true,
then I will sympathise, but I will not forgive you unless the crime was murder
or theft from the people. If b) is true, I will forgive you.
Forgiving is not something that people do a lot. True
forgiveness takes a heart of gold and a will of steel. If you can take a wrong
done to you, accept it, then forgive it, you are showing true character and
wisdom. Only the strongest souls are able to get over something and forgive it.
As Avatar Aang wisely said, “It’s easy to do nothing. It’s hard to forgive.”
