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How to Forgive for Your Emotional Health

Tanya J. Peterson

Here's What's Happening on the HealthyPlace Site This Week:

How do you foster forgiveness and move forward despite emotional pain? Here are 3 tips you can use to accomplish forgiveness.

Forgiveness isn’t easy. The mind doesn’t easily let go of emotional hurt and pain. It’s part of our drive for self-preservation: when we keep the negative thoughts and feelings alive, they form a barrier between us and the source of the pain. Sometimes, though, self-preservation turns into self-sabotage. When we hang onto our hurt, that’s what we stay focused on.

Forgiveness is key to weakening that barrier and becoming unstuck. Use these tips to foster forgiveness and move forward despite emotional pain:

  • Know that forgiveness doesn’t mean dismissing what happened to you or even forgetting about it. Quite likely, you’ll never forget. Forgiveness is about shaping your relationship with the other person in this moment and going forward. It’s about choosing how you want your current interactions, thoughts, and feelings to be.
  • Your mind and body can only hold onto so much. Forgiveness is about deciding what you are going to hold onto right now, in each moment.
  • Reflect on your values around your relationship with someone who has hurt you. How do you want to be? What do you want the relationship to be like? Plan your actions and your thoughts accordingly. Your emotions will eventually follow suit.

When you consciously and repeatedly make that choice, you lower your barriers and open your heart and arms to the person before you now.

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Your Thoughts

Today's Question: What motivates you to forgive after you’ve been hurt? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experience, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

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I Think I Was Misdiagnosed! Now What? - Instagram Live

What do you do when your mental health diagnosis doesn't feel right? Megan Griffith was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, then re-diagnosed with mental illnesses she's not certain she has. What's it like when you can't figure out what's 'wrong'?

We'll also talk with a therapist about what to do when you feel like you are misdiagnosed and common mental illnesses that might be mistaken for another.

I hope you join us for Thursday's HealthyPlace Instagram Live. Thursday, February 18, at 4p ET / 3p CT. We welcome your comments and experiences and our guests always answer your questions. You can check out our mental health interviews playlist or watch last week's Facebook Live: After Abuse, How Do You Have a Healthy Relationship?

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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From HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

Mental Health Recovery: Why The Small Wins Are So Important

The small wins in mental health recovery are actually a big deal. Megan Griffith learned this lesson for herself. Take a look.

Subscribe to the HealthyPlace YouTube channel

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

  1. Men Who Are Victims of Verbal Abuse
  2. When Depression Gets Existential, Live One Day at a Time
  3. Proper Pronoun Usage in the LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Community

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Inspiration for Depression Quote

"Give yourself another day, another chance. You will find your courage eventually. Don’t give up on yourself just yet."

Read more inspirational quotes for people with depression.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or follow us on Instagram.

Thank you,
Deborah

Community Partner Team
HealthyPlace.com - America's Mental Health Channel
"When you're at HealthyPlace.com, you're never alone."
http://www.healthyplace.com

APA Reference
Peterson, T. (2021, February 16). How to Forgive for Your Emotional Health, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, December 21 from https://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/mental-health-newsletter/how-to-forgive-for-your-emotional-health

Last Updated: February 16, 2021
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Medically reviewed by Harry Croft, MD

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