"Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself."
Forgiveness can be tricky. Forgiving others and ourselves is something we choose to do or not do. It's up to us. Some things are easier to forgive than others, like forgetting a birthday or showing up late. Some things are much tougher to forgive, like being intentionally hurt or intentionally hurting ourselves, whether physically or emotionally. We can learn to be much easier on ourselves by expressing more forgiveness toward ourselves and others.
I have had difficulty in the past forgiving others for how they treated me. Whether it was family, friends or coworkers, I had a tendency to hold a grudge and have contempt toward those who I feel did me wrong. I was all about seeking revenge too. Most of the poor treatment I endured affected my mental and emotional health. People would bring me down with their words and I allowed it to fester inside me. I could not let it go. I felt the need to retaliate, never physically, but I would attack people verbally and do my best to make them feel bad. It wasn't pretty, and it never really solved anything.
Photo by Ashlyn Smith on Unsplash
One I started allowing myself to let it go, and not retaliate when people would put me down, I realized how I was able to have more control over my mood. I did not have to feel slighted or the need to get in the last word. I found that I prefer to let it go. I realized how it's not worth my time or energy, or my good mood. I also found people stopped feeling the need to attack me verbally when I no longer felt the need to respond to their attacks. This is how I discovered the power of forgiveness, even if I felt the other person might not be deserving of it. It became so much easier to forgive and forget.
I chose peace and understanding over pride and revenge. Life has been so much better for me ever since I started practicing more forgiveness toward others. It also helped me to show more forgiveness to myself. I am able to recover quicker from my mistakes and setbacks. I stopped beating myself up emotionally and started letting it go. It's made a world of difference for my own self-care. I am so grateful for experiencing how therapeutic and emotionally cleansing it can be to practice more forgiveness toward others and myself. How have you been lately at practicing more forgiveness in your life?
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