How to Heal By Forgiving

When someone hurt you, it is not easy to forgive them. You may feel that if you forgive them, you are allowing them to hurt you again. Forgiveness is not for the one who hurt you. By learning how to forgive, you will free yourself of the pain and bitterness.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Forgiveness
• Time

1. Forgiveness is good for the body as well as the soul. It may take time, to forgive, but you can start by taking, baby steps. Sometimes the person that hurt you, don't even feel any guilt and is living happily, while you are literally, killing yourself with stress.

2. 
   Talking to a counselor

   Find someone who you trust, such as a counselor or a close friend, and tell them how you feel. By doing this you are preparing yourself for selfhealing.

3. 
   Confrontation

   You don't have to confront the person who hurt you, to forgive them. You can forgive them without ever seeing them. You deserve to be free of pain and anger, although that person may not deserve to be forgiven.

4. By forgiving someone, it doesn't mean that you will forget what they did to you. This experience should teach you how to prevent future hurts and not to hurt others.

5. 
   Inner peace

   You are maybe asking yourself, "How do i know when i have forgiven someone." When you can laugh at the things that once hurt, when you laugh more at little things, when you allow yourself to start trusting again and connected with others. Most importantly, when you can stare the person, in the face and don't even feel an ounce of resentment, you may only feel pity for that person, for being so mean.

6. Look forward to the future, embrace life and let go of the pain that was inflicted upon you. To forgive someone is a powerful thing, you will have inner peace, therefore you will be walking around with a permanent smile on your face.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't allow yourself to be victimized again, protect your heart.
• You may also try writing a letter to the one who hurt you.
• Keep yourself busy by doing things that you enjoy doing.
• Don't let this experience stop you from loving or trusting again.
• Don't lose faith if you are taking too long to forgive someone, it will happen with time.

[sneedc]

on 11/24/2008 Forgiveness sets people free! yay! great article