3 Ways Forgiveness Will Help Reduce Stress and Increase Happiness

Forgiveness is powerful. And though you may believe that you are doing something good to others by forgiving them, you are actually doing far more good to yourself.

Reducing stress is one of the amazing benefits that you enjoy when you forgive everyone.

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The secret? Forgiving essentially frees yourself from the binding effect of expecting others to acknowledge and pay for what they have done to you. By deciding to make peace with it instead of waging war against it, you pacify yourself. And you’ll feel so much better!

Here are 3 ways forgiveness will help you reduce stress:

You’ll feel lighter

Have you ever noticed how inner turmoil can feel like physical weight? If you release that weight, your thoughts will “feel” lighter, just as your body would feel lighter weighing less.

There’s no better way of releasing that weight than forgiveness. Once you do it, those thoughts are transformed into memories that help you understand your past, but don’t keep you anchored or unable to move on with all the new possibilities out there waiting for you.

You’ll feel more positive

When you forgive someone, you replace the negative feelings that haunt you every time you remember that person or anything else that reminds you of him/her. And the beauty of it is that you can then fill this newly created space in you with hope, kindness and love.

This change will make you more positive because it will make you realize that you have the power to turn any negative event into a positive new beginning by simply forgiving!

You’ll become more patient

Knowing that you can change any negative event into a positive one by being forgiving makes you more patient with people. With patience rather than anxiety as your driving force, you will manage tricky situations based on strategy instead of just reacting to them!

How do you know if you're there?

Think of a difficult moment in the past and ask yourself: How do you feel about that person? You should be able to wish her well and not just feel indifferent. If you feel indifferent, you might be blocking how you really feel about her.

RELATED: 21 Forgiveness Quotes to Help You Let Go of the Past

The secret is to apply forgiveness liberally, or else it will not have quite as powerful an effect. If you start forgiving selectively (when you feel like it), you will soon find yourself trapped in negativity.

Forgive as an act of consciousness that is not dependable on the platitudes of emotion. So don’t wait until you feel like forgiving, just do it!