Forgive ahead of time. Whatever you hold onto that hardens your heart, empty it from your heart right now. You know hardness does not belong in your heart. Your heart is meant to be unfolding, not tightening, not stiffening. Why would you do that to your heart? Don’t strangle your heart. What do you think you are doing?

It is yourself you are to forgive for being hard-hearted. The one who carries hurt has to let it go. There is no other recourse. Whatever was said to you or done to you, even if it were the worst imaginable thing in the world, you have to let it go. Don’t keep it with you.

You know better. The one who offends you may not know better. Consider the one you were offended by as having dropped a stitch in knitting. Consider he spilled a blot of ink. Consider he was hard of hearing and simply didn’t hear you.

Think a moment. If he knew better, wouldn’t he have done better? Just as you may find it difficult to let go of hurt no matter how grievous or minor, the other person found himself caught up in the momentum of a direction, and his brakes were faulty.

You, upon whom the offense was perpetrated, haven’t gotten over your offense yet. You are just the same. You know what it is to go in a direction you are caught in.

Are you caught in a race for stubbornness? Are you trying to find out who can keep his jaw gritted the longest? Isn’t this what lack of letting go amounts to now?

Simply get off the track you are on. It’s not safe, and it’s not right. You are perpetuating a crime now greater than whatever was catapulted on you. In effect, you shot yourself out of a cannon. Pick up the pieces and put yourself back together. The cannon is your anger and all your self-righteousness. Look, agreed that you shouldn’t have been treated the way you were, nor should you be treating yourself this way either. Nor should you be treating anyone else this way.

What, are you a warden in prison? Are you a judge in court? A referee?

Just as you are to be the first to greet someone, now be the first to shake hands and drop the issue. Nothing is worth coldness of heart. A billion dollars is not worth coldness of heart, and right now you have a heart chilled to the bone, and you haven't received one red cent of remuneration. This is costing you. It is costing you lost love and all this unhappy time.

You know you will warm up eventually. You will get over it. So get over it now. Slacken your jaw. Let go of being formidable. Reverse directions. Turn around and let go of the past.

You say you believe in love. Good, then where is your love? Where have you stuffed it?

Scrimmage around to find it. It’s there somewhere in a closet. Put your heart back where it belongs and get yourself out of cold storage.

How did you ever get yourself in this place anyway? It was all an aberration. It was all a foolish thought. You and the offender have both taken offense. Now you both have to let go of it. What you consider an intolerable offense -- whether it is or not -- you have to let go of it. You have some say over yourself.

Don’t you have something better to do than to hold tight? I know you do. You know too. So do it then. Do not delay. This is your life. It is ticking. There are no time-out’s. Get back in, not into the foray, but to where you want to be. I don’t believe for one minute that you want to be where you are. You are ensnarled in nothing worthwhile. You do not have to be stuck. Get out from this snare you are in right now, right this minute. Rush to be the first. You have nothing to lose but stubbornness, self-righteousness, etc.