Forgiveness

I read this and pass it on.  "Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past."  It stopped me in my tracks.  I need to live in today.  It is all I have.  If I get up in the morning and am resentful about some past event, I cannot focus on preparing for today, with hopes and needs.  Why do I dwell on the unchangeable yesterday?  This is not the same as talking to someone or doing something about a past situation in order to effect the future.   I sometimes hold onto forgiveness until someone changes or apologizes to me.  Neither of these things changes what happened in the past.  When I see forgiveness as having little to do with someone else's behavior, and a lot to do with me hoping for a better past, it becomes easier to forgive.  Forgiveness is about changing me and not someone else.  I might avoid a person or place, but I stop trying to change them to make me happier.  I might not forget.  Some of us Irish don't forget.