Anger and resentment towards others who have hurt or disappointed you serve to express negative reactive emotions and to blow off steam, but at the same time they can trap you into becoming controlled by the past. Your anger and resentment prevent you from moving forward with a positive and constructive attitude in the present and future. You continue to experience and to be controlled by negative energies, instead of freeing yourself from them.
Forgiving is an often difficult, but creative choice you make that frees you from being stuck in the past. You can choose to move forward with a constructive frame of mind and feeling, or you can remain controlled and encumbered by feelings of resentment that were caused by what happened in the past. There is nothing you can do about what happened in the past, but there is something you can do to manage your feelings and attitudes to make your present and future happier and more fulfilling.
Choose to forgive. It is the wisest way to go.
Getting Personal
Forgiving someone is often not an easy thing to do. Do you have any personal experience(s) to illustrate this idea?
Is it ever better NOT to forgive someone? Any examples?
“Forgiving isn’t something you do for someone else. It’s something you do for yourself. It’s saying ‘You’re not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.’ It’s saying, ‘You don’t get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future.'” (Jodi Picoult, American author)
“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” (Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist)
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” (Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa)
….Top of post image(Let It Go), by Brett Jordan, from unsplash.com
