“Forgiveness done right is a gift, and, done well it can work miracles.”
– The Gift of Forgiveness, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt
Even as a child, I have always been fascinated with forgiveness. And while I couldn’t place the first time it was introduced in my life, I do recall a series of memories that wrapped the essence of it.
As children, the concept was simple — we ask for forgiveness when we hurt another and in turn, accept forgiveness when we are wronged. It was a simple formula but has since becomes more difficult to grasp as we grow older.
My personal journey with forgiveness is a tricky one. It seemed every time I got closer to understanding what it meant to me, an event would occur and make me question any epiphany on forgiveness.
lessons of forgiveness.
And so, I began to look outside of myself for guidance. That was when I found myself pre-ordering The Gift of Forgiveness by Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt.
Katherine, who already released three books before this one, dives deep into the journey of forgiveness by listening and sharing “inspiring stories from those who have overcome the unforgivable.”
The book shares 22 stories of hope of people from all walks of life, with each story leaving nuggets of wisdom for a reader to ponder and apply into his or her own life.
Each story is unique and life changing but what truly changed my perspective is the story shared by Elizabeth Smart.
Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her home and held captive for nearly nine months before she was rescued. The first chapter of the book recounts Elizabeth’s journey from forgiveness. Like most of us, she grew up thinking that forgiveness was something we offered to the people who have hurt us but soon discovered that “forgiveness is not a gift you give to others but one that you do for yourself.”
This chapter hit close to home because it is the part of forgiveness I grapple with daily – why must I forgive when the other person isn’t even sorry? Why must I give them that satisfaction?
The answer to a question I’ve been holding on to for nearly two years came as I read Elizabeth’s lessons on forgiveness, “Forgiveness is not necessarily a two-way street. It’s a very personal thing, and you don’t need two people for forgiveness to happen.”
What even left me stunned was Elizabeth’s own epiphany on forgiveness, “It is an act of self-love. Holding on to a traumatic past does not but consume your present emotional space.”
My view on forgiveness shifted after that because finally, I realized, forgiveness begins with self-love.
When we love ourselves, we are compassionate with ourselves, and when we are compassionate with ourselves, we allow ourselves to be free to feel our emotions without being consumed by it.
This is when change occurs because, when we understand that loving ourselves means allowing ourselves to be set free from anything that does not serve us. And often, this courageous act of loving ourselves is what initiates the forward movement of our lives.
This is one of the many gems found in Katherine’s new book, a book that challenges what we have been taught about forgiveness.
Now more than ever, we do need that opportunity to forgive not just other people but also ourselves. For me, the journey began by opening the pages of The Gift of Forgiveness.
Know more about Katherine and her book by visiting https://katherineschwarzenegger.com/.
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