THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING FORGIVING AND BEING STUPID

I'M BAAAAAAAAACK.

Yes, I am aware that I haven’t written a blog post in like, forever. BUT! Hear me out! I have been going THROUGH it, man! Not to sound overdramatic, but my world has basically been falling apart and my mental health the past few weeks has been deteriorating. I have been making life changes, traveling, making my move back to UNF, and reevaluating who I let into my inner circle. It has been a rough couple of weeks. However, one thing has been on my mind heavily; and that thing is forgiveness.

One of my biggest pet peeves with myself is my tendency to burn bridges. Although I am a firm believer in second chances, I don’t give them out as much as I probably should. EVERYONE who knows me knows that the second I tell my mom about someone screwing me over, I can pretty much kiss that friendship/relationship goodbye. I am far too petty to let someone screw me over without me telling them off and then cutting them off and that is something I am working on. Because in all honesty, forgiveness doesn’t have to be this huge deal that everyone has to know about. People only know what you decide to tell them and in today’s society, it is ridiculously easy to let the entire world know about whatever situation you’re going through with just ONE status update or tweet… but is that really necessary? The answer is no.

Now, before you start to freak out and text me telling me how wrong I am, think about it. If Blair hadn’t of forgiven Chuck Bass, we wouldn’t have one of the greatest love stories of our generation. And not to make this religious, but if God hadn’t of forgiven Adam and Eve for taking that apple, where would we as a human race be?

LET’S BE REAL: EVERYONE is going to screw you over somehow, someway and if all you ever did was burn bridges, you would be stranded on an island all alone with no way out.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING FORGIVING AND BEING NAÏVE.

And the hardest part of all of this is determining if it is in your best interest to forgive. And in my experience, it always is. Don’t hurt yourself trying to let someone go, that is like closing the door on someone but having your fingers there to stop it from slamming. Everyone fucks up but that doesn’t mean that they did it with the intent to hurt you and it doesn’t mean that you have to leave them behind. In the words of the great Hannah Montana, “everyone makes mistakes.” And in the words of me, “forgive them and get the hell on with your life.”

Do not let someone take you for granted. Forgiving someone when they make a mistake is completely different from acting like they never made the mistake in the first place. Do not give a loaded gun to a murderer and then act surprised when they pull the trigger.

FORGIVING DOESN’T MEAN FORGETING.

Remember that.

Your Searching Soul,

Angelena