The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

Forgiveness is not a favour the strong hand down to the weak. Both people are let go at once, which is why it feels so much larger than the offence that made it necessary. Holding a grievance takes a low constant effort you stop noticing, and being held as someone’s grievance is its own quiet weight. When both ends loosen together, the lightness is hard to find anywhere else. It is relief more than virtue.

There is probably someone you have kept at arm’s length over something that stopped mattering a while ago. Say the sentence that ends it, or ask for the same if the debt runs your way.