Why you should forgive

If you are in a bad place and you’re blaming this on someone else, this is a clear indication that you need to forgive, even though this might be the last thing you would like to do where this person is concerned!

I recently came across this:

A saint was asked “What is anger?” He gave a beautiful answer: “It is a punishment we give to ourself, for somebody else’s mistake.”

The Minds Journal

I don’t know about you, but in the past when I felt angry, it didn’t feel good at all! In fact, it felt pretty awful! But now, anger is an emotion I very rarely feel, because while there will still be people who do things that may “hurt” me in some way, I’ve realised that being angry at them actually hurts me!

I’ve known people who have carried around grudges for years, or even decades, and all it did was cause the person carrying the grudge to feel bad, and in many cases, it affected their health as well. Meanwhile the person they were angry about is living their life without a care in the world!

So forgiveness is not about them – it’s about you! It’s about setting yourself free from the hold you’ve allowed that person to have on you, and it’s about taking back your power.

Nobody can make you feel a certain way – that’s on you (sorry!), so what feelings do you choose? What feels lighter? Anger or forgiveness?

Forgiveness does not condone what they’ve done, but it does set you free, and for me, that’s a much lighter and happier way to live.

We’ll touch on this more in future articles, because I know some of you are struggling with the concept of forgiving someone who’s been really horrible to you. I will share some of my own stories too, in the hope that you can see there is a better way to achieve your own happiness.