Oct 30 2009
Be forgiving. It’s easier than carrying the pain and resentment.
“This, too, shall pass. No matter how dismal it looks today, it will be different tomorrow. . . or sometime soon. Just breathe and release. Let go of the emotions so you can see the truth and learning in the situation.”
Dr. Lawrence Vogel
Catherine Ponder is an accomplished speaker and writer with a good perspective on forgiveness. She compares resentment to steel, and says that we have to find a way to release this rigidness and be free, or it will eventually affect our health. The Mayo Clinic has studied forgiveness and proven that it can reduce stress and blood pressure as well as lower the heart rate. Yoga practitioners use the simple mantra: breath and release, focus on your breath, releasing hostility and negative thinking.
I learned how to forgive using a psychological tool. In any situation that made me angry, hostile or resentful, I had to sit up two chairs: one represented my story; the second chair represented the other’s story. I had to put aside my feelings and sit in the second chair. Looking at both sides starts compassion so that understanding can take place.
