Forgiveness is Powerful
“Why it’s
important:
Forgiveness is one of the best tools you can have. It’s not just about letting go of the past, it’s about releasing yourself from resentment and bitterness.
It’s about giving someone else the opportunity to change for the better.
It’s about being able to smile and get on with life.
How to practice forgiveness:
Forgiveness is a skill that can be learned. It’s not something that comes naturally to everyone, but it is possible to develop this skill.
The first step in the process of forgiveness is identifying what you need to forgive. This can be hard because we have so many different types of relationships with people and we all have different ways of being hurt by them.
In order to find your own personal reasons for forgiving someone, you might want to put together a list or journal about the person who hurt you and what they did.
This will help you figure out what needs forgiving and why it needs forgiving—it’s important that the reason makes sense for your own moral compass.
Once you know what needs forgiving, it’s time to start working on the forgiveness itself.
One way to do this is by practicing gratitude — instead of focusing on how someone has wronged you, focus on all the things they have done right
Why should I forgive someone if they don’t change?
The goal of forgiveness is not to influence the acts, conduct, or words of another person. Consider forgiveness in terms of how it can improve your life by providing you serenity, joy, and physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Forgiveness can take away the power the other person continues to possess in your life.”
Read the full article on Medium
✨Takeaway: Forgiveness is an act of strength and courage. It may be healthy to your own well-being to forgive those in your life. As holding onto resentment can have a bigger effect on you, than them. In fact, psychotherapy frequently employs the act of forgiveness as a strategy to help patients recover from emotional scars and move on from terrible events.
✨Reflection: What are your thoughts on forgiveness?
#Forgiveness #Forgiving #Powerful #Self #Friends #Family #Relationships #Strength #Wellbeing
@innateJoy9602
Great read and takeaway, thanks for sharing, Joy. 💜 (also, I love your profile picture)
I do feel the same, forgiveness is indeed an act of courage, and strength, it takes a lot to acknowledge something, and forgive. I like the phrase "forgive but don't forget", by not-forget, I don't mean holding a grudge or something, because that's not real forgiveness hehe, if we are forgiving someone, it should be meant and expressed in full and truthfully so, nothing as "scores to settle" then.
With not-forget, I mean the lesson from that situation, to not end up being in the same spot again (or atleast try to).
Worth mentioning here that it's harder to forgive ourselves, than other people, ironic and how. Guess, self compassion comes into play here, something to be gentle with ourselves and allow ourselves the space to be human, to err, to be anything but perfect and to grow along, to try and do better next time. ❤
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Thanks I am going for a little violet theme now :P Haha
Exactly! I feel the same way. Not forgetting - should be in a sense of growing from that situation. As you said, if we forgive someone, it should be fully meant!
Self-forgiveness is definitely challenging! Sometimes it's harder to lend ourselves that self-compassion and self-kindness. It's unfortunate that we tend to be a bit harder on ourselves. Couldn't have said it better myself: "Allow ourselves the space to be human." 💜👏
I've felt more recently that actually self-forgiveness is harder than forgiving others.
@Laura1989
Yes, I feel many would agree with you on this. As Sun said, self-compassion has a part here. Remind yourself that people are fallible; that regrettable decisions and feelings are inevitable. There is a time in each of our lives when we must concede that perfection is unattainable. Even while we should always work to better ourselves and become better versions of ourselves, nobody is ever mistake-free.💜💜
@innateJoy9602 there were several people that took me a few years to either silently forgive or to tell them that I did. but I think it's a healthy thing to do for you as a person, in order to move past hurt you have to be able to get to a place where you can say hey you hurt me in these ways and it may have ruined my desire to have any kind of friendship or relationship with you, BUT I wish to move on with my life and I don't want to live with resentment or hatred so I'm releasing it and letting go of its power to control me cause resentment and hatred can control us and push others away whom did nothing wrong to us.
@tealLion9329
Very well said teal. It helps to move on with your life without having a grudge or resentment. Letting go of it's power to control you is a perfect way to put it!💜
