I want to start this out by saying that I forgive you, and I’m sorry that I haven’t said this sooner. You may not have ever asked me to forgive you, or even thought about saying those two little words, but I’m here to say it’s okay. Now, you may be wondering why I am being so willing to give forgiveness to someone who hasn’t even thought twice of asking for it. Well, the answer to that is quite simple really. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best when he said, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

So, there you have it. I’m not forgiving you because I want you back in my life or that I’ve forgotten all of the pain and toxicity you brought into it. I’m forgiving you because there’s no point in me holding a grudge over something that isn’t worth my time.

In a sense, this letter is a sort of closure for me more than anything else. A way to truly part with all the pent up frustrations I have over all the crappy friendships and the heartbreak that each of you brought into my life. So out of love and respect for you, I will forgive you and love you because you are a person, and every single person, no matter how much they’ve hurt you at one point or another in your life, deserves to be loved and respected.

I would also like to say thank you. Now, this may come as a shock just as much as the I forgive your comment, but it’s true. I am thankful for each of you. In life, we experience a lot of things that help to shape who we are today. So, thank you for being a part of my story and being a part of a past that I may not always be proud of, but I wouldn't be where I am today without it.

Thank you for helping me grow as an individual and become stronger. Each time you knocked me down or made me feel smaller than a grain of sand you were unknowingly teaching me how to get up off the ground, shake it off, and proudly display the battle scars. So, thank you for helping me to become and even better version of myself.

Thank you for helping me understand the true meaning of friendship. Please don’t take this in the wrong way, at some point or another each of you was a great friend to me, but somewhere along the way the whole “being a friend” part must have gotten lost in translation. That’s quite alright, though, because it allowed me to find people that were there to pick me up when I was down and to cheer me on when I was doing well.

So, thank you. In all of the areas that may have at one point seemed like a fault, I now see that they were each little lessons guiding me through life and teaching me how to become the person I always wanted to be. For that, I will be eternally grateful.

Now you may be reading this and haven’t hurt me specifically, but the truth is we’ve all hurt someone at some point or another in our lives. So this letter doesn’t just go out to all of the people who’ve hurt me. More specifically this is an open letter to everyone, on behalf of those we’ve all hurt. If this letter teaches you nothing else, please be reminded that it’s always easy to hate someone for the wrong they’ve done to you, but taking the road less traveled can lead to something far more appealing

Ephesians 4: 26 - 27: Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the Devil.

Best Wishes,