By Sophia Demetriades
Anger kills… every day… through an ocean of infirmity such as depression, stress, broken relationships, strokes and heart disease. Yet its victims often never know what hit them.
I’ve heard anger to be a more comfortable feeling for men, whilst it makes women cry, the suffering none the less does not differ between men and women. Either way, the most painful anger is self anger, which leads to anguish and despair, which again lead us to do the most hurtful things to others, and to ourselves.
Once we are angry with ourselves for being vulnerable, denying ourselves to be vulnerable again, we forget to remember that forgiveness is the solution to a broken heart, whether it belongs to you or someone else. No matter how deep you are hurt, there is a way to effectively reduce your anger, improve your mental and physical health and put you in charge of your life again. Forgive to live is not just a dream, its a way of life that can save your life. Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right, and if you want to take your life back and have the love you definitely deserve, you must believe that you have what it takes to forgive yourself and others for being human.
Forgive yourself for breaking someones heart. Forgive yourself for not completing something you started. Forgive yourself for choosing something else. Forgive yourself for what has been and move forward in belief. Forgive your friend for what’s probably a tiny mistake in the big picture of things. Forgive your parents for not being perfect. Forgive your colleagues for not understanding you. Forgive your brother for what has been and move forward in belief.
7 steps to forgiveness:
1. come to a new understanding of what has happened to you
2. discover what forgiveness does and doesn’t mean
3. take steps to reframe your grievance story
4. stop giving control of your life to the people from your past
5. stop controlling other people and events around you to the level of which you can’t let go
6. get your life, and maybe even your health, back
7. find a freedom, peace, and strength you’ve never had
Forgive. Whether its your or own someone else’s heart you hold in your hands today, own it.
Look forward and cherish it. It has someone’s dreams inside.
Sophia Demetriades Toftdahl 