Growth - Letting go of Painful Resentments and Forgiving Others

Learning to let go and forgive is a noble act. It can help you have peace with yourself and others. However great the benefits, though, it is not always an easy thing to achieve.

Minor transgressions are easy to forgive and forget. But then there are the big things for which you may feel the need to cling onto for long periods. You might tell yourself that you have let it go, but ultimately you have not. In these challenging situations, there are techniques that you can use to let go and find peace finally.

Learning to Forgive

It is essential to learn to forgive. Holding onto resentments or hatred only hurts you. It can lead to foul moods, depression, or even health conditions. When you hold onto resentment, you allow a situation to burden your future.

Forgiveness is the right choice to make, but it does not mean that you have forgotten what has happened. You might even still hold someone else accountable for the wrong. With forgiveness, you are simply deciding to move on with your life.

It means that while you might not ever completely forget the pain, you will still be able to live your daily life without it. And when you see the person who has wronged you, you will not immediately think of or bring up the situation.

How to Forgive

There are no set guidelines about how you ought to approach forgiveness. However, you may know deep down when it is time to forgive. When you recognize that you have been repeating a situation in your head over and over, now is the point in time to let it go and forgive.

To forgive, you also need to allow a change to take place in your life. Find the compassion within to make peace with the past. You will feel the difference in your heart as you let the resentment go and make room for positive emotions.

This can be particularly complicated if the person you are dealing with seems resistant to change or does not even seem to care about your forgiveness. In this situation, remember that you are searching for peace for yourself. It is not about making the other person feel better; it is about making you feel better.

Letting Go

Once you have found it in your heart to forgive, it is time to work on letting go. This step can be so difficult, yet it is the most important. Letting go means that you are not fighting battles in your mind anymore.

One way to let go is to adopt the attitude of a present moment thinker or forward thinker. You will choose to spend as much time as you can to experience life in the moment - truly.

It is when the past and negative thinking creep up that problems are likely to occur. When this happens, do whatever is in your power to ease your mind. As time goes by, you will find that things do get easier to deal with when it comes to situations involving forgiveness.

Remember that letting go is the best thing you can do for yourself. You certainly do not enjoy holding onto anger and resentment, so why continue? Ask yourself if those feelings are serving a purpose for you. Then choose to forgive and forget. You will be glad you did!