The Benefits Of Forgiveness
Forgiving is good for mental health as well as physical health.
Sometimes people around us do things that hurt us or we feel betrayed or even assaulted. At other times, we are the ones who do something that, later on, we no longer agree with. It’s not always easy to forgive, but it’s very healthy to do so. The benefits of forgiveness extend not only to others, but also to ourselves.
It’s much easier to talk about the act of forgiving than it is to do it, and overall this act is a big challenge.
Forgiveness can sometimes be confused with a form of remission, in which what has passed is assimilated without retaliation. But forgiveness is much more than that . Forgiving means letting go of what happened.
In any case, the benefits of forgiveness for the health of our body are many.
Forgiveness is good for the heart
Forgiveness is good for the health of our hearts. A study in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine found that forgiveness is associated with a lower heart rate and lower blood pressure. This same study found that forgiving also helps relieve stress.
This can have benefits for heart health in particular and health in general.
Forgiveness is good for general, physical and mental health
Another later study associated forgiveness with five health measures: physical symptoms, medications used, sleep quality, fatigue, and somatic complaints. It appears that reducing the negative effect and depressive symptoms that rancor produces strengthens spirituality, conflict management, and stress relief, which is why the impact of forgiveness has a significant effect on overall health.
Forgiveness helps to relate better with others
Another study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin found that forgiveness helps restore positive thoughts, feelings, and behavior with the “offending” part. That is, forgiveness restores the relationship to its former positive state. Furthermore, the benefits of forgiveness can extend to positive behaviors directed towards other people outside the relationship. In this way, forgiveness is associated with more volunteerism, more giving and charitable acts, and other altruistic behavior.
Final considerations
When we forgive, we are freeing ourselves from our own bondage. We let go of the pain and resentment we were carrying like a weight on our backs, to make room for freedom. Even by forgiving, we complete this open pendency that we had with the past.
Forgiving implies an acceptance of what happened, to give way to a deep detachment, not only from the facts or accusations made by others, but also from ourselves. Because not only is it necessary to forgive others, but it is also convenient to reflect on what we have to forgive in ourselves.
Forgiveness is good for the body, the mind, personal relationships, and finding a role in the world. This should serve to convince ourselves that it is much better to let go of the grudge and forgive.
As William Shakespeare said:
