Prompt 4: Think of a recent moment where you felt wronged. Did you seek revenge? Why or why not?

It is not a recent moment, but it is an important lesson to me.

In 2018, I had a terrible, almost fatal accident. I was hit by a car when I was trying to cross a road at the pedestrian crossing.

I broke my spine during the crash, and my spinal cord was injured seriously. I was immediately paralyzed from the neck down, and it wasn’t sure whether or not I would survive.

It took me weeks to realize that I was actually in the hospital care, and something serious had happened to me.

Right now I am feeling great and I live my life in a wheelchair.

I also managed to meet the driver of the car and talk to him a few times.

He obviously did not wrong me on purpose. It was an accident. However, I saw serious pain in his eyes, even though my first thought after waking up was the willingness to forgive him.

I knew he would be suffering so much because of his guilt and I thought it would only hurt both of us if I continued to be mad at him or hate him for what happened.

I told him several times that I had forgiven him. It was a really hard process until we managed to talk to each other without feeling uncomfortable or without tears.

However, I believe that it was one of the best choices in life that I decided that I wouldn’t be nurturing hatred and anger and frustration within me, and tried to find new ways to thrive in life.

Orsolya Temesvári

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