Four ways to forgive, with Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt

 Last week, just before the announcement of her first pregnancy, I had the opportunity to speak to Advocate, Author and Ambassador for the ASPCA, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt about her new book ‘The Gift of Forgiveness’. The New York Times bestseller encompasses 22 interviews with people from different walks of life to explore the many roads to forgiveness.

The ability to forgive feels incredibly poignant right now as we face so many new and unique pressures in lockdown, so my conversation with Katherine felt timely. Read on to find my top 4 take outs.

 1. Forgiveness does not always mean you have to concede to another person, it’s about no longer choosing to allow that person or situation to make you angry or consume your life. To Katherine, forgiveness is about taking back your power and freedom.

 2. Forgiveness looks different for everyone. Katherine explained how some people can forgive instantly whereas others will always struggle for years with the concept. Our different relationships and struggles with forgiveness reflect the diversity of the world we live in and appreciating that is key to understanding how other people choose to forgive.

 3. To Katherine, forgiving someone isn’t a ‘one and done’ situation, it is an iterative process. Moments and people might trigger you and your control, your ability to forgive will be tested continually.

 4. On self-forgiveness, Katherine believes this is often the most challenging thing for most of us. Tackling it requires openness and a desire to forgive in the first place. Make sure you’re starting from the right place and don’t expect too much from yourself too soon, be kind to yourself.

You can watch my full conversation with Katherine on IGTV here. Don’t forget to join www.allbrightconnect.com to stay up to date with our busy calendar of digital events.