As We Grow Up

It is crazy when you find a quote by an unknown author and it can sum up exactly how you feel at a certain time of your life. Even better is when you find one that continues to apply to how you feel about life. The quote below is one of my favorites. 

In this quote you are reminded to appreciate the moments in life, to forgive and love. I love this quote because it is real. The quote does not sugar coat anything. 

The part of the quote that applies to me today is the theme of forgiveness. As I have grown up I have learned how important it is to forgive others. It is easier to forgive if they apologize but even when they don't it is important to forgive and Let It Go. Not everyone is perfect. The one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will because they are not perfect. And guess what? Neither are you. Holding on to the hurt does not prove to that person anything. All it does is make the hurt last longer.

Although forgiving is somewhat difficult, it really is the easy part. Trusting them in the future, that is where it gets tricky. Do you forgive and forget, with the possibility of getting hurt again? Or do you hold back and keep the relationship at a distance? Either way it will be hard. Then think about how you would want to be treated if you hurt someone else. Would you want them to forgive you but not forget what you did? Would you want them to never trust you again?

As my son Max says, No way! I would want them to forgive me AND trust me again.

I guess it all comes down to the person. If you surround yourself with people who you know are good people then it shouldn't be a problem to forgive and forget. Thankfully, I have some pretty awesome people in my life and I can say I would be able to forgive and forget while not worrying about getting hurt again. If you have to worry about it, then maybe you should rethink the amount of time you are around that person.

As you grow up you become less naive and are able to make decisions on your own. This helps because there is less of a need to talk about things with everyone. When you take the time to reflect on what is best for you, you will not be so concerned with what others think. If you are less concerned about what others think about you or say about you, then it makes it easier to forgive because the hurt is not as deep. You will also find yourself not needing to discuss everything you are going through with people in order to have them validate your feelings, because you start to realize that it doesn't matter if they validate it or not.

Overall it is important to realize that nobody is perfect. Don't expect so much from others and instead focus fully on how to be the best you can be. I hope I can teach this to my son and future kids as they grow up. It stinks being hurt but if we never experienced pain how would we appreciate the great moments in life. Pain is a part of life. 

It would be great if instead of completely forgetting past hurts, we would only remember the part of how it felt. Haha that sounds cotradicting of what I am saying in this post, but what I mean is to remember only enough of how it felt so we would all do our best to not be the cause of the hurt to someone else. 

Everyone's story is different. We have all been through different difficulties. Forgiving and letting it go will make you a much happier person. 

What part of the quote applies to you? Do you struggle with forgiveness or letting past hurts go? Do you blame a new love for what old ones did? Do you forget to relax and enjoy the moment? Please comment, I would love to hear how this applies to others! :)