Last update: 23 September, 2015
Forgiveness is good for mental health, but also good for physical health.
Sometimes, the people around us do or say things that hurt us or that make us feel betrayed or even attacked. Other times, we ourselves do something bad that we later regret. It is not always easy to forgive, but it is certainly an act that is good for both mental and physical health. Even if it were only for our own good, we should learn to forgive.
Forgiving is much easier said than done and, in general, it is an act that involves a great challenge.
Often, forgiveness can be confused with a form of forgiveness in which what happened is assimilated without reprisals. However, forgiveness is much more than that. Forgiveness means detaching from what happened.
In any case, forgiving has many benefits for the health of our body and mind.
Forgiveness is good for the heart
Literally, forgiveness is good for heart health. In this sense, a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine revealed that forgiveness is associated with lower heart rate and lower blood pressure. The same study found that forgiving also helps relieve stress.
Forgiveness, therefore, is an act with multiple benefits in particular for the health of the heart and for the health of the body in general.
Forgiveness is good for health in general, both physical and mental
Another later study associated forgiveness with five aspects of health, namely physical symptoms, medications used, sleep quality, fatigue, and somatic complaints. Forgiveness appears to combat the negative effects and depressive symptoms of resentment, strengthen spirituality, manage conflict, and relieve stress.. Forgiveness, therefore, has a significantly positive effect on health in general.
Forgiveness helps you relate better to others
A study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin journal revealed that forgiveness helps restore positive thoughts, feelings and behaviors towards the person who offended. That is to say, forgiveness restores the relationship to the positive state prior to the offense. The benefits of forgiveness can extend to positive behaviors towards other people outside the relationship. In this way, forgiveness is more associated with volunteering, giving, charitable actions, and other altruistic behaviors.
final Thoughts
When we forgive, we free ourselves, we eliminate our condition of slavery. We detach ourselves from the pain and resentment we carried like a large stone on our shoulders and open ourselves to liberation. When we forgive, we also put an end to the hanging issues of our past.
Forgiveness means accepting what has happened in order to free ourselves not only of the deeds or words of others who have offended us, but also of our own negative actions. In fact, we must not only learn to forgive others, but we must also reflect on what we must forgive ourselves.
Forgiveness is good for the health of the body, mind, interpersonal relationships and helps to find one's place and role in the world. This should help convince you that it is much better to leave the grudge behind and forgive.
Come disse William Shakespeare:
Forgiveness falls like light rain from heaven to earth. He is twice blessed; he blesses those who give it and those who receive it.
