We Forgive But Do We Really Forget?

We Forgive But Do We Really Forget?

How do people find hope in the darkest times? This RAW Recovery episode centres on the messy, real-life side of forgiveness, with Dion sharing candid stories, humour, and hard-won lessons from his own recovery journey. You’ll hear Dion joke about his destructive cats and his spoof “Recovery News Network” clips, then swing straight into deeply personal territory. He reflects on his relationship with the man who raised him, past abuse, and the long shadow those experiences still cast.

He’s clear that for him, staying sober means cleaning his side of the street, even when others don’t or can’t respond. A big focus is the difference between forgiving and forgetting. Dion admits, “I have a steel trap brain for things people have done wrong to me,” yet he works hard not to let those memories run his life.

He explains how he used EMDR therapy to shift old trauma from something that felt like it was happening right now into something that belongs in the past, freeing him from constant fight-or-flight reactions. Self-forgiveness comes up again and again. Dion argues that, “You cannot transmit something you do not have and that includes forgiveness,” so learning to forgive himself is essential before he can accept or offer forgiveness to others.

Boundaries play a huge role too: you can forgive someone and still say no, keep distance, or not restore trust without a proper conversation. Through banter with regulars like Angel, Michelle and others, the episode keeps things light enough to handle some heavy truths. It’s aimed at people in recovery who wrestle with resentment, family pain, and the fear of being hurt again, yet still want peace of mind and freedom from the past.

If you’ve ever wondered whether forgiving means pretending the hurt never happened, this conversation might help you ask a different question: what would your life look like if the past stopped deciding your present?