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When we cling to resentment and anger, we are holding onto a backpack full of bricks – bricks of blood, brick of sweat, bricks of tears baggy as the entire ocean and islands of hurt that I cannot imagine ever needing to pack. It is important to note that forgiveness is not condoning or forgetting harmful actions or events. It is a conscious choice to let go of the hold that old pain has over us so that we can move forward in the world with a lighter heart, more ready to embrace the now and what is to come. And just like in your mobile betting where knowing the odds and strategies can have an impact on your betting, understanding the power and process of forgiveness can help you take control of your emotional well-being.
What Forgiveness Really Is
Forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood concepts. It’s important to define what it is and what it isn’t:
Forgiveness IS:
- A personal process: It’s something you do for you, no matter if the person who hurt you ever acknowledges or attempts to make amends for what they did.
- Detachment from your emotional agreement with the pain: It means you free yourself of the rage, bitterness, and resentment that keep you tied to the past.
- Choosing peace instead of pain: This is why you intentionally decide to protect your own well-being and emotional freedom.
- It is a journey, not a single moment: Forgiveness is often a complex and gradual process that takes place over time.
Forgiveness IS NOT:
- Forgetting: Not needing to erase all traces of what happened.
- Excusing or condoning the behavior: Forgiveness doesn’t mean you condone what happened.
- Reconciliation with the offender: It may or may not be possible or healthy. Forgiveness is about you and not about the other person.
- Trusting the person who hurt us again: Although forgiveness does not mean we need to trust the offender, some might feel guilty about deciding not to trust the person who hurt them again. Trust is earned.
Forgiveness: Why We Do It and Its Profound Benefits
There are profound positive effects upon your mental, emotional and even physical health from the choice to forgive:
- Less Stress and Anxiety: Anger and resentment activate the stress response in the body. Forgiveness can soothe the nervous system and reduce stress levels.
- Improved Mental Health: Releasing past traumas can cure symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD.
- Healthier Relationships: Forgiveness can restore relationships and lead to increased empathy and understanding.
- Reduced blood pressure: Research has shown a relationship between forgiveness and decreased cardiovascular risk factors.
- Improved Sleep Quality: Letting go of negativity can help with sounder sleep.
- Feelings of Hope and Optimism Increase: By freeing you from resentment, forgiveness creates space for a positive view of yourself and the world.
- Better Sense of Peace and Well-being: In the end, forgiveness helps you to move on with a light heart and more inner peace.
The Path to Forgiveness: Steps in the Process
Forgiveness is difficult but these steps may help set you on the right track:
- Admit to the Pain: Give yourself permission to go through the positive feelings that accompany the pain without any judgement. Acknowledge the impact it has made on you.
- Decide To Forgive: This is the key first step. Declare your desire to let the past be rather than carry guilt and shame.
- Try to Understand the Other Person’s Perspective (Without Excusing Their Actions): This doesn’t mean accepting what they did, but understanding their possible motivations or situation can sometimes help with the ability to forgive.
- Which brings me to; be kind to yourself, and show empathy for yourself during this painful process of hardening your heart further.
- Let Go Of Your Desire For Vengeance: Realize that revenge will only prolong your pain rather than shorten it. Forgiveness is about taking back your power, not relinquishing it.
- Look to the Present and Futureing:Turning your energy away from the past and into making a better future for yourself.
- Try Not To Hesitate About Seeking Help: Get on with a specialist, a specialist, or a confided companion to help you through the excursion of pardoning.
- Pardon Yourself: One of the things we tend to do is beat ourselves up. Being compassionate to yourself, forgiving yourself for your own mistakes, is part of the process.
- Forgiveness Does Not Equal Reconciliation Understand that the other person may not need to be in your life: Be open minded that the act of forgiveness does not mean you will be reconnecting with the perpetrator. Your forgiveness is for you.
Wrapping Up
Forgiveness is a self-liberating process, an art that you can be a masterful artist of. It’s about dropping the clutch of the past and giving the gift of freedom, the gift of the future free from resentment and hurt. Although knowing the in’s and out’s of bet mobile can increase the likelihood of good karma, learning how to forgive is the true way to ensure your emotional investment pays off – guaranteed! Forgive those in your life, take back your emotional strength.