Winter Hikes and Pondering

I had a thought as I hiked up the frozen trail on Mt. Olympus

while listening to the Follow Him podcast about 1 Nephi 6-10.

Nephi's brothers had tied him up, threatening to leave him in the wilderness

and hoping that wild animals would devour him.

When Nephi prays that he's given the strength to burst his bands with which he was bound, 

they were loosened.

When his brothers see he's been freed, they plan to tie him up again 

until others in the group plead for them to stop.

Next thing we know, they're asking Nephi for forgiveness 

and "he frankly forgives them."

Not an easy thing to do when your brothers have literally tried to kill you multiple times.

What if Nephi's prayer to break the bands that bind him wasn't just the literal bands,

but also a prayer for God to help loosen the figurative bands of anger, hate, revenge?

A prayer to give him the strength to also break those bonds and "frankly forgive?"

What are my bands? Do I trust that God can do the same for me--

give me the strength to loosen the the things that are holding me back,

if only I ask?