Let Them Go

Today I was struck with how important it is to look after myself FIRST, before trying to Give to others.
How many carers do we know (nurses, social workers, mothers), who spend their whole lives serving others, neglecting themselves, only to die from something terrible like cancer, and people say "Aw it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, they gave so much".
Back to this idea of concentric circles: How can I give to others, when I don't look after myself?
The issue on my mind today, is Forgiveness.
Not Forgiveness in the sense of Letting people trample all over me, not a weak forgiveness at all.
My version of Forgiveness, is to Release someone.
I release them to be themselves somewhere else, with someone else.
I let them go - they can't hurt me any more.
I free them - they have no more hold over me.
I remove the attachment.  I stop trying to change you.  I let you go.  I release you.  I forgive you.
Forgiving someone who's damaged me, is a way of freeing ME. I refuse to cling to bitterness.
I forgive them, thereby releasing me.
How excellent is that!
From simple things like the driver who sits in my rear (I simply let them overtake, and they roar off into the distance, I release them to go bother someone else, and I go free), to the really hard things like coping with family members (I forgive them, I let them go, I accept them as they are, they will never change, so I release them to be them).
The aim is to look after me, to be at peace, to operate out of Freedom, to not bottle up anger, to not cling to bitterness. Only THEN can I effectively give to others.