According to Greater Good Magazine, psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness.
When we do not forgive, there are multiple feelings that are generated such as anger, resentment, hatred, thirst for revenge, which are all negative emotions that do not contribute anything to our lives. They won't remove what happened in the past and they won't work in the present or future either so why have them? If they affect us on an emotional and health level since they can cause great stress.
We must bear in mind that there are people who find it easier to forgive than other people, either because of the mistaken idea that forgiving is submission or a simple act of weakness, but they are in the wrong idea because forgiving is not that, but it is the act of acceptance when a person makes a mistake so that as a result of that they can learn from their it and move forward as a person to continue growing.
So, taking into consideration the previous information, forgiveness is very important for our life since it helps our body in the following ways; 'reduces the risk of heart attack, improves cholesterol levels, improves sleep and reduces pain, blood pressure and levels of anxiety, depression and stress' (Johns Hopkins).
In addition, forgiving also means having put yourself in the shoes of the other person who hurt you, causing you to develop feelings such as compassion and empathy. But what it does not mean to forgive is to forget or apologize for the damage that was done to you or to reconcile with the person who caused you the damage. Forgiveness brings a kind of peace that helps you get on with life’. ( Mayo clinic )
By Catalina Botero, Step 10 Blue.