there's an old story about a captain of a ship that was sailing on a dark, pitch-black night.the captain suddenly noticed a bright light directly in front of him, and he knew that his ship was on collision course with the light. he rushed to the radio and sent an urgent message, demanding that the vessel to change its course ten degrees east. a few seconds later, he received a message in return. the message said, " cannot do it. change your course ten degrees west." the captain got angry. he sent another cryptic message, " i'm a navy captain. i demand you change your course." he received a message back a few seconds later. it said, "i'm a seaman second class. cannot do it. change your course. the captain was now furious. he sent one final message. it said, "i'm a battleship, and i'm not changing my course!" he got a curt message in return, it said, "i'm a lighthouse. it's your choice, sir."

sometimes when things go wrong, when people hurt or betray us, forgiveness doesn't come instantly. we tend to be stubborn just like the captain. we think of all the reasons why we're not going to change and why we aren't capable of forgiving them. we hold on to that anger deep inside. we cling to unforgiveness which only leads us to trouble. little do we know that we are heading to a destructive path in our life. forgiveness is a choice but it is not an option. it's up to us to change our course and move on.

story taken from Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen