I've been reading several books on loving and forgiving other people (and yourself too). All written by Leo Buscaglia. All excellent.

If you do check any of them out and find that you are far too cynical to enjoy what he says...or you think he's just tiptoeing through the tulips and is naive about human nature....well, you might really be in serious need of what he's talking about! ;-D But that's up to you.

I find that most people have developed along a certain line and have become sort of committed to it...and they are usually not too willing to change. Change requires great effort, and it requires facing pain and then letting go of it.

If a person would rather hold onto old grudges, for example, it's not easy for them to let go of that, is it? But the rewards for doing so are immense, because that load mainly comes off YOU, not the person you were holding the grudge against. Anger consumes the vessel that contains it.

And can you forgive yourself? That might just be the hardest one of all. Most people are more than just a little disappointed in themselves in certain ways...after all, they had expectations of themselves, didn't they? That can be a lifelong struggle to deal with. Believe me, I know.