The problem with revenge is that it only seems like the thing we want. Unfortunately, the happiness, satisfaction, or justice we hope to find when we seek revenge never quite seems to materialize.

We are happy to parrot cliches like “two wrongs don’t make a right” but we spend an awful lot of time trying to prove them wrong. And while responding to a hurt with a hurt may seem to even the score, I’m not sure we really want that score to be even?

Forgiveness, on the other hand, creates a beautiful imbalance. When we can respond to being hurt with forgiveness instead of retaliation we find that there is a great deal more happiness and satisfaction gained by opting out of the game.

Forgiveness is the kind of injustice that sets you free.

PS: I’d love to say that I’m sharing this because I had an opportunity to demonstrate forgiveness this week, but the truth is that someone else demonstrated it to me.