Forgiveness: 5 Reasons Why You Should Let Go of Resentments

Another one from Purpose Fairy.


“Forgiveness is the most powerful thing that you can do for your physiology and your spirituality, and it remains one of the least attractive things to us, largely because our egos rule so unequivocally. To forgive is somehow associated with saying that it is all right, that we accept the evil deed. But this is not forgiveness. Forgiveness means that you fill yourself with love and you radiate that love outward and refuse to hang onto the venom or hatred that was engendered by the behaviors that caused the wounds.” Wayne Dyer
So why should you let go of resentments? Because:

1. FORGIVENESS IS AN ACT OF STRENGTH

If you are filled with anger and resentment, I am sure that these words would probably seem like nonsense to you, but as time will go by and as the pain will diminish, you will come to the conclusion that you need to be strong enough to forgive, because: “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”  Ghandi

2. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO FORGIVE

If you ask me, there is not even one single being in this world who hasn’t been hurt and injured emotionally by somebody they knew and trusted, and if you ask me, it’s not that we CAN’T forgive, it’s more that we DON’T WANT to, and that’s okay. There is nothing wrong in this. You can’t really force yourself into doing something that you don’t want to do. What I personally believe is that , in order to forgive, we need to get a better understanding of why we should do so, and how will this act of forgiving benefit us. Just know that you do have the power to forgive, just now that you can forgive, and when needed, look and see how you could benefit from doing just that.
You can repeat to yourself that you can’t forgive and that you can’t let go of what they did to you, but deep down inside you know that it’s not that you can’t, it’s more that you don’t want to. There s a difference between these two words.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.” Lao Tzu

3. FORGIVENESS IS A GIFT WE GIVE TO OURSELVES

It’s not that you do THEM a favor by letting go of the resentments, by forgiving, because I know that’s exactly what most of us think. Why should I forgive them for what they did to me? No way! I want them to suffer as much as I did, and of course, we think they are the ones who are hurting, and maybe they are, but that’s not what matters. What really matters is that you allow yourself to receive this gift, and even though a voice inside your head will try to convince that they don’t deserve your forgiveness, you should listen to your own hear, because deep down in your heart, you know to let go of it all in order to find peace of mind and be happy.
You should allow yourself to receive this gift, because forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself, first and foremost. The moment you tell yourself: I had enough, this pain no longer serves me, that will be the moment you will actually understand why forgiveness is power and why you are the first one to benefit from it.

4. YOU WILL FIND PEACE OF MIND

Peace of mind is what you find the moment you let go of any grudges you are holding on to, any resentments and any remorses. That is exactly what you will tune into the moment you let go, the moment you decide that is time to forgive. The moment you say to yourself: It’s time to forgive! It’s time to forgive all of them and it’s time to forgive myself for not allowing peace to enter into my life earlier, that will be the moment your whole life will change.
“If you let go a little you will have a little peace; if you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace; if you let go completely you will have complete peace.”  Ajahn Chah

5. WHEN YOU FORGIVE, YOU GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO LIVE LIFE FULLY

Forgive those who have hurt you for they did what they knew best at that moment. How many people do you know that go around with the intention to actually hurt somebody? The majority of people are doing the best they can with what they know, where they are and with what they’ve got. Try to see everybody/ everything as lessons that you need to learn and master, because by doing so, you will not become a bitter person, you will become a better person.
We all have a choice, and we can chose to either be happy or unhappy; to choose to hold on to resentments, waste our time and energy, to be miserable, or let go of everything that no longer serves us. It is a choice that we all have.
“And … the question suddenly occurred to him: “What if my whole life has been wrong?” - taken from The Death of Ivan Ilych  by Leo Tolstoy