What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is being able to stop holding someone in contempt or stop being angry at someone who possibly did something that angered you. Of course forgiving can also include not holding someone in contempt or being angry at them in the first place. I think it takes true heart and character to truly forgive someone. More often than not, when someone does something that we react negatively to, our first instinct is anger and revenge, not forgiveness. I think sometimes people can anger us so badly, that we literally react before we have time to think about what the repercussions of our unplanned actions will bring us. I truly admire, people who are able to nearly instantly forgive someone, it's definitely a positive quality. That is what I think forgiveness is.