Forgiveness Heals, But Forgetting Protects

People often use the phrase "Forgive and forget" especially when they offend someone, most people think it is that simple when they can't even do the same thing if they were in the person's shoes, we are not kids anymore, even as kids, the gravity of the offense will determine whether we could forgive you and still forget what you do, if it is a slight offense, we can forgive and forget but when it is deeper than we can imagine, it feels like a wound that can never heal, so it will be hard to forgive because humans are wired in complex way that we can't really define.

Can one exist without the other? I really don't know if I should say yes or no but we can easily forgive someone because it is a choice we made, we can forgive someone and still be friends but there is no way you can decide natural to forget whatever the person did, we can't control that part because our mind will constantly remind us. I remember when I was a child, I was curious about certain things and one of these things was how a lantern flame could be so small and feel like it isn't breaking the glass then one day, I touched the flame and it burnt me a little, did I forgive myself for touching the fire, "Yes I did", did I forget how hurtful and how painful the burnt felt, "No" I couldn't and that made me fear fire anytime I see one.

Now imagine if we could forgive and forget things instantly, I would keep going back to touch the fire because I already forget it burnt, people will keep preying on you since you had already forgotten what they did to you, one reason whey it is hard to forget things is because they serve as pain and at times serve as experience or lesson learnt, so it is not a realistic demand, you shouldn't be thinking if someone decide to forgive you and decided to move on, they will always remember what you did anytime they see you again and most reason why people forgive people is to free themselves of the bitterness that comes with it, which means we can forgive you and move on but we won't forget about it.