Forgiveness is good for mental health and also for physical health.
Sometimes the people around us do things that hurt us or with which we feel betrayed or even attacked; other times, we are the ones who do something with which we later disagree; It is not always easy to forgive, but it is very healthy to do so. The benefits of forgiveness extend not only to others, but also to ourselves.
It is much easier to talk about the act of forgiveness than to do so and, in general, it is a great challenge.
Sometimes forgiveness can be confused with a form of remission, in which what is transmitted is assimilated without retaliation, but forgiveness is much more than that. Forgiveness involves letting go of what happened.
In any case, the benefits of forgiveness are numerous for the health of our body.
Forgiveness is good for the health of our hearts. A study published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine found that forgiveness is associated with lower heart rate and lower blood pressure. The same study found that forgiveness also helps relieve stress.
This can have benefits for heart health in particular and for overall health.
Another subsequent study associated forgiveness with five health measures: physical symptoms, medications used, sleep quality, fatigue and somatic complaints, it seems that the reduction of the negative effect and depressive symptoms caused by spite strengthens spirituality, conflict management and stress relief, which is why the impact of forgiveness has a significant effect on overall health.
Another study published in the Bulletin of Personality and Social Psychology, found that forgiveness helps restore positive thoughts, feelings and behaviors with the “criminal” part. In other words, forgiveness restores the relationship to its previous positive state. In addition, the benefits of forgiveness can extend to positive behaviors toward others outside the relationship. In this way, forgiveness is associated with more volunteering, more donations and acts of charity, and other altruistic behaviors.
When we forgive we free ourselves, into our own slavery, we let go of the pain and resentment that we carried as a weight on our backs, to give way to freedom, in fact by forgiving we conclude this open question that we had with the past.
Forgiveness implies acceptance of what has happened, in order to arouse a deep detachment, not only of the facts or accusations of others, but also of ourselves, for it is not only necessary to forgive others, but also to reflect on what we must forgive in ourselves.
Forgiveness is good for the body, for the mind, for personal relationships and for finding a role in the world. This should serve to convince us that it is much better to give up spite and forgive.
As William Shakespeare said
“Forgiveness falls like a gentle rain from heaven upon the earth. He is twice blessed; bless who gives and who receives?