Why Forgive?
The Benefits
Only a few years ago, no one was very interested in forgiveness. It was really quite unpopular, mainly because people felt that it was difficult, arduous and very time consuming. Now people realize that there are many benefits to forgiveness and are taking more interest in it. Fortunately, we now have a technology (Radical Forgiveness) which makes it easy, simple and quick. Here are some of the benefits.
Personal Benefits:1. Better Health:Research shows that resentment and a general lack of forgiveness raises blood pressure, depletes immune function, makes you more easily depressed and causes enormous stress to the body. It also causes people to hold weight. For more, see Health Matters.
2. Cancer Prevention: It has been shown that cancer has its beginnings in unresolved grief or trauma approximately 5-7 years prior to the onset of the disease. Forgiveness can interrupt the energetic progress of the disease into the physical body. For more, see The Type C Connection, Health Matters.
3. More Energy: It takes an enormous amount of energy to hold on to repressed or suppressed feelings like anger, blame, resentment, disappointment, need for revenge, etc. When you forgive, you release an incredible amount of energy that then becomes available for creating the life you want.
4. Better Relationships: When we release the need to blame or forgive others we feel better inside, which makes us easier to be with. Our relationships improve automatically. Take the Relationship Quiz and see how you might be re-creating problems in every relationship you have or have had.
5. More Freedom: Forgiveness gives us freedom from the pain of the past, freedom from the weight of emotional baggage and the freedom to be who we truly are.
6. Empowerment: When we forgive we take back our power from those we had previously empowered to make us feel bad, realizing that it is our own choice to feel the way we want to feel. Then we are empowered to create the life we want.
7. Spiritual Growth: You simply cannot grow spiritually if your heart is polluted with resentment, envy, anger, jealousy, judgment, criticism or any other form of unforgiveness. You will always have a low vibration. This is taught (though largely ignored), in every religion. Forgiveness was the foundation of Jesus's teaching. Judaism's holy days, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur call for atonement. Buddhism calls for ceaseless empathy and compassion towards everyone - especially enemies. The Hindu religious text, the Bhagavad Gita says, "If you want to see the brave, look for those who can love in return for hatred." In the Koran, the Angel Gabriel tells Mohammed to set aside vengeful anger.
Collective Benefits of Forgiveness