If you are carrying pain caused by someone you cannot bring yourself to forgive, this is for you.

I recently found myself reflecting deeply on forgiveness while reading You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. Her words stirred memories of my own struggles with forgiving people who had hurt me in ways that changed how I moved through the world.

I do not believe there is a single person who has lived without experiencing emotional pain. The impact of that pain varies, but some wounds run so deep that they shape how we trust, how we love, and how we protect ourselves.

For me, betrayal created walls. I would trust people only partway, maybe 80 or 90 percent, but never fully. At the time, I told myself I was being cautious. In reality, I was afraid.

What Forgiveness Is Not

Many people resist forgiveness because it is misunderstood.

Forgiveness does not mean:

• Saying what happened was acceptable
• Allowing someone back into your life
• Giving permission for the behavior to continue
• Forgettin...