Is forgiving another person just forgetting or letting go of anger?

If I may insert a little bit of my story here, I was bullied throughout my school life, and even though quite a few years passed I still carried a huge load of anger towards the people who did that to me. Only lately I realized how intense my anger is and how it affects my own wellbeing; after one of the emotional outbursts (which happened after remembering events in the past) I felt exhausted, drained, lost, helpless. This event led me to wonder whether or not we forgive because "it's a nice and wise thing to do", or because it simply unburdens a person who forgives! There's nothing wrong with anger - it's a reaction to something that is being perceived as a painful, harsh injustice. But a couple of questions that are worth of consideration, in my opinion, are - Is your willingness to feel better stronger than your willingness to stay in the state of anger? How exactly would you rather feel at this moment?

Forgiveness is letting yourself accept that it happened and allow the other person to know that. You may still not be happy or trust them, but this allows you to try and rebuild a friendship - or move on slightly knowing that you wont allow them to make that mistake again. Forgetting doesn't happen in the process of forgiveness, it allows the other person to learn from their mistake.

No definitely not. I think forgiving another person is very important during the process of getting better. Forgiving that person means you’ve let go of all ill feelings towards that person and situation. Too many times we let what that person did or said get to us and effect us in a bad way. Once we forgive that person we let it stop bringing us down. You don’t just forgot what that person did or said, but you let it stop having a hold on you. Forgiving someone who hurt you is not being weak, it’s being strong and brave.