Tag: forgiveness
Forgiveness: The Life-Changing Healer
We’ve all been there at some point… we just can’t seem to get over a hurtful incident that deeply wounded us, or perhaps even altered the course of our lives. So we hold a grudge against the person who wronged us… it smolders, perhaps for years. We can’t seem to forgive and let go.
Developing the habit of forgiveness can be an incredibly powerful healing force. It begins with realizing that in refusing to forgive, we hurt ourselves more than the person we refuse to forgive. You’ve probably heard the old Confucius saying: “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” So while an unwillingness to forgive does not necessarily equate to a desire for revenge, the result — the harm that “unforgiveness” does to us — may be the same.
How to Move On: Letting Go of Hurts and Hang-Ups
Someone wronged you. You feel hurt, bruised, and totally justified to hold onto anger. You’ve been treated with disrespect, ripped off, cheated, stepped on. You’re normal to crave justice.
There is a myriad of reasons we can feel wronged, some big and others small. It can be especially difficult to let go of anger if someone has hurt someone we love or someone unable to defend themselves. Whatever the reason, unforgiveness can feel like a gaping wound, a cut that won’t heal. When we wake up, we think about it. When we lay our heads on our pillows at night, we think about it. When happy moments present themselves, our happiness is tainted with anger, hurt, angst. Our anger may feel inescapable.
Have you been there? Most of us can relate to this feeling. But unfortunately, it punishes us more than it punishes the perpetrator. What we want our angst to accomplish is futile and we end up hurting ourselves.