Forgiveness is difficult. Whether it’s forgiving yourself or others, it is not as easy as it sounds. The person you find hardest to forgive is the one you need to let go of the most to move forward in life. Here, in this blog, you will learn 11 reasons why you should forgive others for your own well-being.
Sometimes, the people you love the most end up hurting you the most. It is their actions that matter the most and create all the difference. Thus, the wrong ones have such a strong and huge impact on your emotions and feelings.
The only way to move past this hurt is forgiveness. Forgiving the ones who hurt you is the first step toward your healing. Forgiveness does not always mean that what the other person has done is okay and forgivable. You do it to let yourself free from unresolved feelings and move forward in life.
Helen Schuman in ‘The Course of Miracle’ says that “all dis-ease comes from a state of unforgiveness”. She also says that “whenever we are ill, we need to look around to see who it is that we need to forgive”.
Forgiveness has nothing to do with condoning behavior. To forgive others means to let go. It is allowing the whole thing to go away from your life.
You don’t forgive others for their sake or to save the relationship you have with them, forgiveness is necessary for your own peace of mind before anything else. It is crucial for your betterment.
Hence, today I am going to reveal 11 reasons why you should forgive others for your own well-being.
11 Reasons Why You Should Forgive Others for Your Own Wellbeing
When you forgive others you allow the hurt to heal your heart. Forgiving others is one of the most effective methods to build empathy and self-compassion.
Instead of staying stuck in the past and circling in the whirlwind of negative emotions, forgiveness lets you move forward and release emotional baggage from life.
Let’s get into learning how forgiving others is good for your own well-being :
1. When You Forgive Others You Get Out of the Victim Mindset
You are often angry with someone who hurt you or has not fulfilled your expectations. You hold on to grudges which creates a mental block in your life.
Sometimes you hold resentment against your parents, spouse, or siblings. This is usually because of some unfulfilled expectations, some bad experiences, or ill-treatment, even if it was unintentional on their part.
You hold a higher image of your parents and assume perfection from them in every situation. You put your spouse on this pedestal of expectations and expect nothing else. You want your siblings to always have your back no matter what.
Failure in any of these can easily lead you to get hurt when your actions don’t fulfill your expectations. You may even blame them for different instances.
But by blaming them, you give away your power. Thus, you need to forgive them. For your own freedom of emotions and peace of mind, you need to forgive others.
This is how you can get out of your victim mentality and take charge of your life without depending on others.
When you forgive others, you take a step towards self-awareness. You accept that the damage has been done and you cannot change the past. You know that going forward only your thinking and actions will shape your future.
2. Forgiveness Can Improve Your Relationship
Holding onto grudges affects your relationship in the family. It can create a negative environment at home. It affects the whole family dynamics. The same can happen at work also.
Holding onto anger creates a distance among family members. You need to understand that no one is perfect. It allows you to remember the positive things about another person.
Practicing forgiveness can strengthen your relationships and help in developing understanding and compassion. It helps you to release the resentment and create an environment where you can nurture a more positive and healthy relationship.
3. Forgiveness Allows You to Live in the Present Moment
How often do you hear people preaching “don’t live in the past”? But you often find yourself going back to the situations that hurt you. It’s only human to feel this.
Even when it affects your mood, in the backdrop, you constantly replay the moments that caused the hurt.
This simple practice of revisiting negative scenarios only stops you from focusing on your goals or situations in front of you.
When you forgive others, you release this hurt and allow yourself to heal from it. Now you can focus your energy on moving forward and work on the things that need your attention now.
Releasing this negativity allows you to focus on the present and live in the moment.
4. When You Forgive Others You Improve Your Mental Well-Being
Negative emotions and constant anger take a toll on your mind and energy. It creates frustration and stress in life. If not resolved it affects your day-to-day life causing anxiety and depressed feelings.
Forgiving others allows you to release this bitterness from your mind. It helps you to release the emotional baggage you are holding on to. By forgiving others, you give yourself peace of mind.
Once you let it go, it feels as if some weight is lifted off from your shoulders.
If you have forgiven someone, but those memories often come by, and no longer affect you; this shows that you have grown as a person. This shows that your initiative towards forgiving the person was genuine and you truly wish to be free from this burden.
5. Forgiveness helps You to Achieve Optimum Physical Health
Have you noticed that if you visit a doctor for any health issue, they first ask you whether you have stress in life? Next, they suggest you work on reducing stress.
Stress can create many problems including blood pressure, heart issues, rise in sugar levels, difficulty in sleep, etc. I can vouch from my experience that stress can impact your health.
Studies have shown that forgiving others helps minimize your stress-related health problems.
Keeping negative feelings, irritation, and frustration in mind impacts your mood. When you release these feelings and decide to forgive, it changes your mood, reducing your stress levels. This improves your blood pressure and sleep quality, which impacts your overall health.
You need to forgive others for your own good, for your own health. After all, who doesn’t want to live a healthy and happy life?
6. Forgiving Others Contribute to Your Personal Growth and Development
Forgiving others helps in developing empathy. It lets you weigh the situation as it is and accept the flaws in others. You tend to become less judgemental.
You release yourself from the past and create a space for healing and growth. You free your mind from those self-deprecating thoughts and experience calmness in life.
It opens you to new experiences and opportunities in life. Forgiveness makes you mentally strong to face the hardships of life.
You can now become a better version of yourself. When you are self-aware, it helps in your overall development, both personally as well as professionally. You become more aware of your surroundings.
7. When You Forgive Others You Set Yourself Free
When you have expectations from others, your reactions depend on their actions. You are giving them the power over your reactions.
Forgiving allows you to take that power back. You declutter your mind. You are no longer entangled in the situation. It frees your mind and allows you to focus on the other positive aspects of life.
8. Forgive Others for Your Karmic Cycle
Life is simple, what we give out, we get back. Karma is a circle that always completes itself within this lifetime for each of us. Every thought you think is creating your future. You create the situations and then you give your power away by blaming others for your frustration.
But no person or thing has any power over you. “We are the only thinkers in our mind”.
When we create peace and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives. For this, you need to choose to release the past and the first step toward it is to forgive the people who hurt you in any way.
9. Forgiving Others Allows You to Forgive Yourselves
When you decide to forgive others, you let go of the pain. You release yourself from hurtful feelings and let go of any judgment. Also, now you are ready to forgive yourself.
You need to forgive yourself for the guilt you carry and accept that you too can make mistakes. So stop freaking out on your mistakes. It is necessary for leading a happier life. It improves your relationship with yourself.
10. Forgiveness Releases You from Expectations
When you decide to forgive others for not being the way you wanted them to be, it sets you free from expectations. You become more compassionate towards others.
Today when everyone is talking about self-love. Forgiveness is the best form of self-love.
Forgiving others frees your heart and mind for more enriching experiences in life. It helps in creating an environment within yourself where you can nurture your existing mindset to grow and thrive in life.
11. Forgiving Others Helps in Spiritual Growth
When you forgive people, you begin to see things or situations in life from a wider perspective. You feel for others as you feel for yourself.
Forgiveness is a path toward peace. It liberates your mind. You become more mindful.
People are seeking mindfulness therapies. If that is not working for you, you can start with forgiving others. It liberates your mind. You become more aware of your true self. You can see things as they are.
You become grateful in life and open to guidance. You start appreciating little things in life. It develops a positive attitude toward life.
How to Prepare Yourself to Forgive Others?
For forgiving others, the first thing required is a willingness to forgive. You may not know how to forgive, but when you are ready to forgive, your healing begins.
You need not tell the other person that you want to forgive them. You are doing this for your well-being.
You can start the process of Forgiving others in three simple ways:
- You can decide to read affirmations daily.
- You can journal your feelings.
- Practice gratitude and focus on the good things in life.
If it is difficult for you to forgive, and it is causing serious problems in your life. Then you must talk to a therapist or join a program designed to help you go through this phase.
Conclusion
Forgiveness is a powerful tool in your hands that can transform your life. It affects every aspect of your life in a better way. It can heal your mind and life.
Forgiveness is difficult to practice, but it’s a skill you can develop over time. After getting hurt, it’s not easy to forgive others. But forgiveness can help you rise above these feelings. Thus, it’s such a long process, that you cannot rush it.
Once you start doing it, you will notice that it is removing anger and hostility from your heart. You are no longer giving someone else power over your heart and mind.
Forgiving others is beneficial for mental health, physical health, relationships, and personal growth. Forgiveness is not a one-time thing. It is a life-long journey that brings you toward the path of inner peace and good for your well-being.
When you choose to forgive others, you choose to embrace a happier and healthier life.
