Forgiveness. Such a simple word, yet so difficult to do. Or, at least we make it difficult.

I've just finished reading Staatenlos by Rose Pena. She shares her mother's story without blame and hatred. It is a journey - of family, heritage, discovery and forgiveness. I am so impressed with Rose's courage in sharing this story. She opens the door to allow others who may have been born under similar circumstances to step outside and to take a healing breath of fresh air. What a generous gift to the world!

You can forgive with the brain. The power to heal is in forgiving with the heart. Rose exemplifies what it means to forgive with the heart.

Forgiveness is a gift - to those who need forgiveness, but also to ourselves. When we hold anger or resentment, our heart rhythms are very jagged. The signals that get sent from our heart to the rest of our body are scrambled; the language those signals speak is not one of healing, health and wellness.

When we forgive, we forgift ourselves - we become the biggest benefactor. Our heart rhythms smooth out and our system works efficiently and effectively. When we do the things that bring us joy, we free up our energy which allows us to offer the best of ourselves to the world. What a gift that is.

Earlier this year, I had the realization that I no longer bore resentment to someone who had gravely hurt me. The anger had simply dissolved. I now have more energy to use on the things that matter. Anger does take up a lot of fuel - it is draining and limits our ability to enjoy our lives.

Opportunities to forgive crop up like weeds in your beautiful garden. "Weeding" them out is an on-going process.To live in this life means that at some point, we will be wronged and also we will wrong others, justifiably or not. The question is whether we will allow those resentments to harden our heart and impact our lives. Hasn't enough damage been done to yourself and others? Remember to forgive yourself, as well.

I see that the garden of my heart currently needs some "weeding"; the heart is the non-toxic way to dissolve those roots that can wind around and choke the life out of what you do want.

• What happened when you forgave either yourself or someone else?
• What resentments do you hold?
• Has your resentment hurt you and others?
• Who do you need to forgive?How are you using the power of your heart to "forgift" yourself?