No you can't. You cannot ascend to Heaven if your hands remain nailed to the cross.
Nursing a pain, or a grudge, tending it and feeding it only makes it grow.
Put it in a closet and close the door. Let it die in the darkness.
Then plant seeds of hope and love. Water them and care for them. Let them grow and flower.
I do not advise forgetting or becoming unwary. Be cautious, but not afraid.
Life is the reward for those willing to live it.
It may or may not surprise you but I am an atheist. Having said that—your sentiment is appreciated and welcomed.
But here’s my sentiment: I am not nursing a pain—I am using it to speak out, make change. And, I am just not forgetting it because that’s the sexist-pigs want me to do. That would be the easy way out.
I will never become complacent. I am fighting for all women, even those who are complacent.
For every time, I encounter sexism meant to perpetuate myths that women are weak—I show my strength, speak from the heart and confront it. By doing so, I sometimes expose sexists for what they are—pigs. If I open even a single eye, it’s worth every bit of the effort.
I don’t think I could even be happy in my own skin if I didn’t recognize, daily, the injustice. I must fight—it’s the humane thing to do for my fellow sisters.
I’ve no interest or fear in Heaven or Hell. Nothing a devil could do to me could be any worse than what I’ve seen in this life.
We all grieve and move on differently—I’ve moved on, but I have not, nor will I ever forget the anguish.
I find that most men recoil in horror when I tell the story of my daughter and my own rape at age, 15, too. We have to end this cycle of victimizing women. I fear one day I will face this again with a 15 year old granddaughter.
“And I can both enjoy life and hang on to my outrage at the same time.”
YOU SAID: No you can’t.
I am a much deeper woman than these incidents in my life. I have a multitude of other things to rejoice about. Life is full of all kinds of emotions. Mine are precious to me—good or bad.
When you rape a woman—you wound her forever. That’s why it is illegal and punishable with a lifetime sentence. Greater minds than ours decided it’s so. To them, I am grateful for their compassion.