Forgiving vs Forgetting.

Imagine you're walking along the road, and also walking in the same direction is a man carrying a ladder on his shoulder.

The two of you walk along for a time, not quite together but not quite apart, when suddenly he is distracted by something, a bee perhaps, and without thinking he automatically twirls and the ladder smacks you hard in the face and knocks some teeth out.

As your shitty luck would have it, you were actually walking home from just having your teeth fixed after someone else previously smashed you in the face with a chair.

It was a complete accident, and he drops everything and apologises profusely and calls you an ambulance and tells you repeatedly that he's sorry and didnt mean any harm to come to you.

Of course you forgive him; it wasn't his fault. He was possibly tripped up by a stone, or that bee flew into his face or whatever. No malice, just an unfortunate coincidence that you were in the wrong place.

You're not going to tell everyone about that time this ladder guy ambushed you and mugged you with a ladder and left you bleeding in the road.

But does forgiving mean forgetting? Of course not.
And you'll probably always have scars anyway to remind you when you do.

You don't automatically forget when you forgive, despite how much you want you. By forgiving, you've made an active decision to say 'hey shit happens, but I understand' rather than being a jerk and laying blame where it doesn't belong.

But forgiving doesn't mean that next time you're walking along and there's a guy carrying a ladder nearby who may potentially spin and knock you over again, you won't maybe choose to walk along the other side of the road for safety's sake.

You haven't forgotten, you've forgiven. That's the thing you have control of, and that's the one that holds the most weight.

Everyone flinches to some degree. It can't be helped.
It's unintentional, just like how the accident occurred in the first place.