analog

Forgiving vs. "forgetting".

I'll forgive a lot of things. I'll not only forgive, but also "forget" (put out of my mind, not bring it back up again or let it factor into future things). I suppose the "forgetting" is about trust. By forgetting they did it, and pretending (as such) that it never happened, you're essentially trusting them not to do it again, and their character, in your eyes, will remain untainted.

However... for me personally, I'll forgive practically anything. Even those things I don't forgive immediately, I eventually do. The worst thing I ever held onto was 2 years, but since that, I've not held onto anything for more than a few months (and it was really bad).

Whether or not I "forget it", and let things be, is another story. I know a person right now who has been forgiven of doing something pretty heinous, but I won't associate with him anymore. I won't forget it and I won't, essentially, trust him anymore not to do stupid shit like that again.

So for me, forgiveness is not really the issue... it's whether or not I dismiss what's happened, or keep it in mind. If someone did something purposefully, that's definitely much less likely to be forgotten. I mean, it was willful, there's really nothing to "forget"... they did it on purpose, knowing it was wrong. Trust does not get extended to a person, in the future, who does that.