I remember a valuable life lesson one of my college professors taught us using a sack of potatoes.

For every person we had refused to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato, write that person’s name on it, and put it in a plastic sack.

Some of our sacks, as you can imagine, were quite heavy.

We were then told to carry this sack with us everywhere for one week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to our desk while we studied.

The hassle of lugging this around with us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually.

Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime.

This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for not being forgiving, for keeping our pain and heavy negativity.

Too often, we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person.

While that’s true, it clearly is also a gift to ourselves.

So the next time you decide you can’t forgive someone, ask yourself—isn’t my bag heavy enough?

–author unknown