Forgiveness is ongoing...

Think about someone who has hurt your feelings.  That was pretty easy, wasn't it?  The things that hurt us, one way or another, tend to cut deep grooves in our brains and in our hearts.  As you  know, it becomes all too easy to slip back into our old ways of thinking, even when we have made a commitment to do something different...like forgive someone.
It would be SO nice if we could just declare "I forgive you" and never think about that thing that hurt us ever again.  instead, forgiveness has a different quality to it.  A quality a little more like...Hotel California.  "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."  As in, when you commit to forgiveness as an act, you aren't actually doing something once...you are committing to a practice.
Forgiveness is ongoing.
Forgiveness may take on new dimensions as time passes.  It evolves and requires continued commitment.  Truly, forgiveness is more like a discipline (like practicing an instrument or learning a new language) that requires you to continue to go back to it and say yes again and again.
The reality is, forgiveness is less of an act than a state we embody, continuing to commit to being of service to your higher self by releasing resentment, judgement and hurt.  It's not exactly easy to do this. Forgiveness is so challenging to truly embody, because it requires that sustained commitment, we live in a world where true forgiveness is in fairly scarce supply.
Bitterness, anger, resentment, and bruised egos are all running wild within most of us, in direct correlation to what we have yet to truly forgive.
Imagine your resentment or bitterness being a little bumblebee that is trying to land on you, but instead of being able to, it simply continues to fly past you.
You aren't dwelling on it, admiring it, or inviting it to stay, you are simply making the choice (again and again) not to let it land on you, and thus you avoid the sting of swatting at the past.
Letting go and committing to forgiveness does not make you passive or a pushover, as you can see, it is actually an extremely active discipline.
What will you let fly past you, so that you can truly be free?