If someone has done you wrong or if you feel that someone has done you wrong you may be asking yourself why should I forgive them? You probably feel that forgiveness is like letting the person off the hook or accepting that what they have done is right. So why should you forgive someone who has wronged you? Take a moment to consider what you get out of hanging onto the anger, do you think it is affecting the person who has made you angry?
Malachy McCourt was an Irish-American actor who famously said, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” The only person your anger is affecting is you. Forgiveness is not letting anyone other than yourself off the hook, forgiving someone for something doesn’t mean you have to become best friends with them or even that you have talk to them ever again, it doesn’t mean you have to forget what they did it just means that you can stop feeling bad about it, let go and move.
There are a couple of things you can remember to make forgiveness easier. The first thing to remember is that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have if someone does someone to hurt you it’s usually because they didn’t know any better. The second thing to remember is that we teach others how to treat us if you look like a victim you will become a victim.
Take Ownership
If you don’t take ownership of your problems you won’t be able to deal with them, instead of blaming external factors for how you feel take a look at yourself. What could you do differently? How could you of gotten a different result? Complaining and looking for things to take offence at is a waste of energy. You have no control over external factors, you can’t change how other people behave or see you. The only thing any of us have any control over is how we feel and how we react to situations.
Why You Should Let Go Of The Anger
When you blame other people for how you feel you are giving them your power, if you feel that a particular person or group of people have hurt you and you refuse to stop feeling angry about it you are allowing them to continue hurting you. One study found that angry people where at increased risk of heart disease. Anger increases your risk of stroke, weakens your immune system, causes anxiety and depression.
Health is not the only reason you should let go of anger if you carry anger around with you may end up taking it out on people you love and care about, you may even drive such people away. Everyone does something wrong to someone at some point in their lives. If you forgive those that have done wrong to you, you will be forgiven for the wrong that you have done. As I have said in a previous post like attracts like, if you put out anger you will attract anger back into your life. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stand up and defend yourself, anger can serve a purpose when we need to defend ourselves but you shouldn’t carry that anger with you. Live in the present and let go of the past, it doesn’t serve you to cling to anger.
Gandhi said, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
How To Let Go Of Anger
As mentioned above one way to let go of anger is to live in the present moment and not the past, meditation and hypnosis techniques such as my rewind video which can be found below are very effective ways to let go of anger.
Leave a Reply