1 . Forgiving doesn’t mean saying the pain doesn’t matter or what the other person said or did was OK. It doesn’t mean forgetting what happened. It means letting go of your need for an apology. It means making peace with past hurt and pain. It means choosing to move on. All of this is easy to say, hard to do. But forgiveness can happen in a series of small steps over time.

Take your feelings seriously. Forgiving doesn’t mean shrugging your shoulders and saying “Oh, well.” Cry, feel sad, throw things hard, or write angry passages in your diary to get rid of some of the stress. Talk with trusted friends or family to ask for advice to help find solutions to your problems. You have the right to feel hurt and angry. But suffering these feelings over time does you great harm.

Make a difference in your life. I’ve seen that many miss the opportunity for getting back a good relationship with someone else because they just wait for the apology that may never come. Others stay stuck in anger long after the other person has stopped to be a part of their lives. Make a decision to make a difference for yourself. That may be forgiving or being the first to reach out to the other so that you can move on with your own life.

Forgive yourself and engage in positive self-talk. Although you may mainly blame the other person, it’s important to forgive yourself with positive self-talk. Feel certain that you can learn from this and move on. Tell yourself that you will survive this pain and that life will get better because you can make a choice to let go.

Try understanding the other. This doesn’t reduce your pain but may make what happened more understandable. Understanding doesn’t forgive hurtful behavior, but understanding can help to get rid of your anger and to forgive.

Realize that forgiveness benefits you most of all. The other person may never know about your forgiveness. But forgiving and letting go can lighten the load on your body and on your spirit.

1. What does forgiving mean according to the text?

A．The pain the other person brought you isn’t very serious.

B．What the other person has said or done doesn’t hurt you.

C．You don’t care and have forgotten what happened to you.

D．You needn’t the other person to say sorry to you any more.

2. What is the attitude of the author to getting angry according to paragraph 2?

A．Positive.

B．Negative.

C．Objective.

D．Uncertain.

3. What should you do if you have a quarrel with your close friend according to paragraph 3?

A．Wait for your friend’s apology.

B．Take the initiative (主动性) to say hello to your friend.

C．Try your best to forget your problem.

D．Have positive self-talk.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．How to forgive other people.

B．Forgiveness is helpful for us all.

C．Understanding can help forgive others.

D．Life gets better if you choose to forgive.