Yesterday I was taking part in the monthly IDG’S GATHERING, realising the #innerdevelopmentgoals#idgs. The focus was on #forgiveness . It has been suggested by many thought leaders to be added to the IDG Framework. The speakers were Freddy Mutanguha, laura ulloa and Jonathan M. Tirrell.
Freddy survived the Rwanda genocide, his family did not… 
Laura, as as a child in Colombia, was victim of 2 kidnappings at the age of 8 (1 day) and 11 years (7 months)… 
They told their stories with so much humaneness and forgiveness. It touched me deeply.
While I subscribed to this gathering last week, I worked with this theme throughout the week in my subconscious I realized yesterday. I was going through my mind, heart and emotions and thought about some relationships with people I had during my life, that affected me in a (very) negative way, be it by not being acknowledged, abused, discriminated by color or being a woman, humiliated, or even by coming from a working-class environment. 
During the last 2 days I felt down and sad somewhat. 
Where was this coming from? I knew I forgave these people, for the pain I went through, for the denial, for the silencing of me, always being aware of the necessity I should forgive while otherwise the negativity, fear, anger would eat me inside. And ‘forgiveness involves a shift from these negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to positive ones after a transgression’.
And yesterday I learned such an important lesson: we forgive for ourselves, for our own inner peace! 
Not in an egoistic and selfish manner but as an act of self-compassion, self-acceptance and self-awareness. The sadness and pain may stay, lingering but it will not have a hold on us anymore, it will not eat and consume us anymore. It will become softer…We will not forget the act but we will forgive the actor. Even if the actor does not want or seek forgiveness.
It gave me the strength to be aware of and embrace this sadness and then by acknowledging it, be able to let it go. Yesterday’s session was liberating. Thank you for organising this Inner Development Goals and for the honor to be part of this journey 🙏🏽 

What do you think about Forgiveness as an Inner development skill?

^Marja