Forgiveness Eases the Heart and Calms the Soul

The past has no power over the present. Yet most of us live in the past more than we live in the present moment.

I caught up over dinner with a friend, Karl, whom I have not met for a year or so.

I found out during our meeting that he suffered from a heart attack a year ago and was recuperating from his illness. Karl started to talk about his heart issue and assured me that it is alright now. But I sensed that there was something he was holding back, and dug deeper...

Karl was holding onto grudges about how his siblings and parents left him alone in Singapore and emigrated to Australia 15 years ago. When they returned to Singapore for visits, they would mock his living conditions here. They even told him to uproot and move his family to Australia.

According to Karl, his siblings turned their parents against him during these past years, which made him feel so guilty and angry with them. He told me that he resented their words and he kept all these negativities to himself.

Guilt from shame, anger from resentment, and fear of non-acceptance - all these created toxins that flows within the human body, which later manifested into diseases that the physical body has no resistance to.

Last August, when Karl was suffering from the heart attack incident, his siblings has also returned to Singapore with their parents and left them to Karl's care.

Karl's face turned red and his voice was trembling with anger when he related his story. I warned him that his pulse was racing too fast. He had to calm down.. I asked if he has forgiven what his siblings did, and he avoided the question.

I told him, "To forgive them is for you to let go of the grudges that you have held, as these grudges have somehow become the cause of your heart's malfunction. Let go of the hate, guilt and resentment, so that you can move on from here and release yourself from this situation."

Karl looked away for a while in deep thought. We moved our conversations onto other subjects, such as his daughter's wedding and his next trip to the Maldives.

I feel that I should let it be, as that's all I can do.

This is a Free-Will Universe. I can only say what is meant for the person, but at the end of the day, the decision is up to the individual.

Status: Closed