At first, Forgiveness may look like something out of an “Alien vs. Predator” movie. It will pay you a visit at one point and you will probably crap your pants peeking through your bedroom window thinking “why me, WHY ME?"

However, it may not be the first time Forgiveness has wound up on your doorstep. You may remember the time when your little brother or sister broke the porcelain vase in your living room and pointed the finger at you.

There was the time ‘Big Jimmy’ accidentally spilled his chili special on your favorite sundress at lunch.

And Let's not forget the good old "Where's the $20 bucks you owe me when Golden State won ROB?"

You might not remember Forgiveness during those times because you might've been too young to decipher it's horrid looks and instead cherished the kindness and solitude it provided for you. Children have this special gift of seeing past imperfection.

Unfortunately, as we grow older, these instances become more stressful and difficult to handle.

Remember when your friend "borrowed" your Honda Civic for groceries and rear-ended a Toyota at the first traffic light he saw?

Even worse, your fourth boyfriend/girlfriend had caught feelings for someone else in the middle of the relationship.

During these hard times, we may choose to ignore Forgiveness knocking at our door. We as humans are sometimes so stressed out we block out the very thing trying to help us.

I decided to open the door one day and as any true black man would do in a horror flick, I ran for my life first and asked questions later. It was Forgiveness standing at the door, hideous, appalling, and looked ready to eat me alive.

After my incessant screeching, I heard Forgiveness probably say something along the lines of "bleg glebaheeeeeee" and came inside to give me a hug. Perplexed, I let Forgiveness come in and we talked about some of my life issues. Forgiveness was supportive, caring, mild-tempered, and smelled atrocious. We played some board games and shared some advice, which included “Kloed” (Peace), “Haha baba” (Happiness), “Uuuurb” (Love) and my personal favorite “SkweeeeeEEEEEEEEE” (Commitment).

I now understood what it meant to forgive. It takes diligence, perseverance, heart (a lot of it), and most importantly, sacrifice. Being able to emotionally put yourself on the line for the people that mean the most to you is always a big risk, but it was one I had to take to find true peace within myself. I was able to fix friendships, get back together with my girlfriend, and was able to relieve the stress held in my mind for so long. There aren't many times in life when the alien life form we call Forgiveness stops by but when it does, please consider inviting forgiveness inside. All I had to do was open the door.... and that made all the difference.