The year 2013, marks the onset of a new beginning; a start of a new phase of life. Good, bad or ugly, whatever 2012 was, it’s all behind us now. It’s the next stage of our life ahead that awaits us. Before entering it, we should rub off the old us and bring out the new ones so that what we write on the new pages of life is not influenced by the devils of the past. And take it from me, it’s not that difficult. We just have to decide whether we want to dwell in our past and ponder over the bad moments, or rather learn from them, forget them and move on.

Forgive and forget! That should be your motto of the new beginning. Holding grudges would do you no good. In fact harbouring them would do you more harm than what the other person ever could. Set yourself free from the beast of resentment and revenge. However, there is one important thing you should bear in your mind: always forget what hurt you in the past, but never fail to remember what it taught you. Forgetting the lesson will only increase the chances of getting hurt again by the same person and over the same thing and that would be no less than foolishness. The same rule of forgiveness applies to yourself too.

We do make mistakes, some forgivable, some not, but not forgiving yourself would only cause unimaginable harm to you since in this case the doer and the victim both are one person. When the haunting memories of the past hover over a person for a long time, the guilt builds up so much that it stifles. Therefore, learning from the past and moving on is the wisest thing one could do.

Remember forgiveness does not mean weakness, as said by Gandhi, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”. No one is saying that forgiveness is easy, but it is always the best option. Once you try to forgive, slowly and gradually you would be able to let go and pull yourself out of the clutches of the hovering negativity. And that is when the real you start to surface. Certainly, meeting the real you will bring the peace that you could never have had by holding hatred against others and yourself.

So my dear friends, life is too short to waste on something that is already gone. Learn to be happy, no matter what the situation is. Don’t give the reigns of your happiness in others’ hands. Happiness is inside you. Don’t wait for it to sprinkle its magic; just open the doors of your heart, let the darkness residing in it leave and the sun brighten up your heart and freshen up your soul. Happy New Year! — Mariha Ghazal