Journey: Week Eighteen

Stop holding grudges. 

"Don’t live your life with hate in your heart.  You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate.  Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.”  It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.”  Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself!  And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too.  If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time."

I could blame and hold grudges against a lot of people for a LOT of things that (I feel) have "gone wrong" with my life. But, ultimately as I've learned over the years, the definition of "gone wrong" is simply another opportunity to grow. I learned this at a very young age and am a very lucky woman that I did so.

Through my eventful youthful years I have experienced several agonizing situations. And you  know what? I have become the person that I am today because of those experiences. So, in short, what I'm really trying to say is that there is no way I would ever hold a grudge. If it weren't for those situations, those hard times, those lessons learned.... who knows where or what I'd be in life today. And today, I can say with absolute certainty and confidence that I have already achieved many of my dreams and goals. Today I am one happy girl with a beautiful healthy son and the most wonderful friends.

So, the bottom line is, in a way that I don't even want to admit (especially to a select few people), I am really saying "thank you" to all of those individuals for helping me become a better person.

On a side note, I'm going to be 23 in  one hour and fifteen minutes. How did THAT happen!? 

Until next week....