Resentment ends when we learn to forgive other people for what they have done to us in the past, when we forgive life itself for all our sorrows, and when finally we learn to forgive ourselves. The religious person seeks forgiveness from god. This is not enough to solve our problems. God does not remove personal responsibility from us. Many of my problems have been created by myself ; therefore I have to learn to forgive myself. As an existentialist, I am my own devil, judge, and jury ; hence it is only fair that I should be the one to forgive myself.
Forgiveness of other people who have hurt us is not a sign of magnanimity; forgiveness of others simply prevents their negative impact on us from continuing to influence our lives.
Bitterness ends when I learn to accept life itself, when I learn to accept my present state of evolution even though it is far short of my ideals. Acceptance means that I can be glad for my memories, whatever they are like, whether they are happy ones or tearful ones. I accept that my present personality could only be formed under the impact of sorrow. I do not need to justify sorrow or to reject it ; it is just a feature of life, nothing more. A full acceptance has its base in narcissism, in the love of life.
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