Forgiveness, the secret strength

Let me start with three quotes on "Forgiveness".

“You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.”

?"Only the strong can forgive"

"I will forgive even those who do not ask for forgiveness. Many are the times when I have seethed in anger at a word or deed thrown into my life by an unthinking or uncaring person. I have wasted valuable hours imagining revenge or confusion. Now I see the truth revealed about this psychological rock inside my shoe. The rage I nurture is often one-sided, for my offender seldom gives thought to his offense. I will now and forevermore silently offer my forgiveness even to those who do not see that they need it. By the act of forgiving, I am no longer consumed by unproductive thoughts. I give up my bitterness. I am content in my soul and effective again with my fellow man."

The first one is by Nelson Mandela, the second one by Mahatma Gandhi and the last one by Abraham Lincoln. All leaders who transformed life for better for their fellow countrymen. All revered personalities. All three have left indelible marks on the sands of time. Most importantly, all three have been subjected to ridicule, abuse and even jail time for their courage and actions.

You can see their attitude towards forgiving others. They actually became stronger because of it. They knew it's secret. They were humans like us but they learnt the hard way to be forgiving.

Forgiving others only benefits us because it removes the toxicity in our minds. Forgiving is unilateral (as Abe Lincoln says above). You cleanse your soul from dark thoughts of revenge or a sense of humiliation or anger that only increase stress. You are freed from your own prison.

Abe Lincoln's quote above has a great insight in it. He says "Now I see the truth revealed about this psychological rock inside my shoe." Our bottled up anger or sorrow due to other people's actions and behaviour is like a stone inside our shoes. It only irritates us and over time becomes painful and even infects the toes ! we need to remove it and throw it away; the other person is not concerned.

Another point to note is that being forgiving comes with another great advantage; your ego is reduced. I am not saying the we need to become saints, but becoming more forgiving.

On the practical front, when you forgive, you focus less on the person and self and more on the issue and your goals. You are not distracted from your goals. Gandhi, Mandela and Lincoln would have never achieved what they did by reacting to the treatment with vengeance. They genuinely did not hold any grudge against their tormentors and were empathetic.

While mere mortals like us may not reach such heights, try to be more forgiving and you will see the benefits immediately - that much I promise !!!

Start today. Choose and forgive one big disservice that you feel someone did to you. You need not even call up that person. Just feel the effects of forgiveness in your mind first and you will see in few days what I mean by health benefits!!