Forgiving and letting go...

Have you ever wondered why forgiveness is sometimes so hard? Why do we always want to expect that others will never wrong us? Of course there is a difference between forgiving someone for backbiting, and forgiving someone for doing something serious like murder. But one way  or the other, I think that realizing forgiveness is a two way street is a part of healing. Thus, in order to forgive others for anything, it is also important to make the decision that you don't want to remain hurt, vengeful, bitter or disappointed. Sometimes I think forgiveness is a choice we make when we decide whether we want to keep holding onto destructive pain ...or do we want to let go of the pain so we don't keep repeating the cycle in our minds and potentially harm others?