No Longer Your Prisoner: A Poem About Forgiveness, Release and Moving On

Sometimes Letting Go Starts With Self-Honesty

If there are any among us who have never experienced the roller-coaster ride of an ill-fated friendship or set sail aboard the ship of sunken love, congratulations! May you forever remain an anomaly in a world where the odds of eventually finding yourself in an unpleasant relationship sometimes feel like 99 out of 100.

For those of us who have experienced these unpleasantries, though, how do we mend our hearts and move on? For me, it begins with being honest with yourself. Not the “Oh! I’m glad it happened, and I’ll get over it in no time” kind of honesty. Real honesty.

Your heart is broken. You are hurt. And sometimes it feels as though it will take all the thread in the world—and the finest tailor—to stitch it back together.

It was through this simple yet painful act of being honest with myself that I eventually found the ability to forgive and move on. That realization became the muse behind my liberating poem, “No Longer Your Prisoner.”

Save

Okay, Yes, I Am Hurt—What Comes After the Self-Honesty?

Admitting that you are hurt, and that you placed parts of yourself into the careless handling of another person, is only the beginning. The next act of release is allowing those who muddied your world to leave it.

Sometimes they have already moved on, happily continuing with their lives—and perhaps muddying a few more worlds with those messy footprints—while you remain behind carrying bitterness that slowly eats away at your peace and joy. You may try your best to hide it, but the anguish in your heart has a way of confessing to your soul that you are still hurting.

But once you begin releasing your heart and mind from that prison of hurt, malice and hatred, something changes. The winter that seemed determined to last forever eventually meets the warmth of spring. Slowly, the snow of unforgiveness begins to melt.

And perhaps the most important forgiveness of all is the one you extend towards yourself—for allowing the wrong person or people into your life in the first place.

Forgive, Release Yourself and Move On

Life is far too beautiful to spend it living beneath the shadow of unforgiveness or perpetual regret. Some of the most spectacular wonders of this world are its seasons—spring, summer, autumn and winter. They remind us that nothing remains exactly as it is forever.

Life has seasons too.

We make mistakes. We regret our folly. We learn. We grow. But there is one final step in that cycle that can be difficult to take: forgiveness.

Forgive those who hurt you, not because what they did suddenly becomes acceptable, but because you deserve freedom from carrying it. And forgive yourself for opening the door to someone who perhaps never deserved the privilege of entering.

This is something I have learned and experienced for myself: forgiveness can become the missing piece in the puzzle of reclaiming your peace and moving forward into better, happier seasons.