Everyone does wrong at multiple points of their life. Everyone faces wrongdoing at multiple points of their life. No matter how minor, whether it’s a fight with your best friend, or if you’ve disobeyed your parents, everyone will need to grant and to be granted forgiveness to someone at one time or another. 

Even if someone decides to forgive their wrongdoer simply because they believe that everyone deserves a second chance, the choice directly affects their mental health to some degree. 

Although it can be hard to let go of anger towards someone, it’s important to think about how you have also caused people anger or pain. It probably won’t be the same situation, but everyone is alike in the sense that none of us are perfect. We all unintentionally inflict unpleasant emotions on others, and we need to be mindful of how we handle it when it is done to us. 

The problem with not forgiving someone isn’t just that it’s borderline hypocritical, but it also doesn’t benefit either party of the situation at all. Withholding forgiveness can cause anxiety, bitterness, and obsession with the oppressor. It’s extremely unhealthy mentally to hold grudges. 

It takes so much energy to stay mad at someone. No matter what they did wrong, becoming hyperfocused on it and talking about it all the time makes it so much harder to recover from the pain they caused you, and it doesn’t prove anything at all to remain bitter about it. 

Holding a grudge really only affects yourself, but when you let go of it, it’s like a huge weight being lifted off your shoulders, and even though it can be hard to forgive someone, it’s much easier to enjoy your life after the fact than it is when you’re still mad at them. 

It’s so emotionally exhausting to hold grudges against people, and forgiveness is so much better for your mental health than attempting to avoid their name for the rest of your life. Dwelling on people’s wrongs limits your own personal growth, and nothing good comes out of remaining the same for your whole life. 

Forgiveness is such a powerful thing. It displays a combination of graciousness and strength. By not forgiving someone, all you’re doing is showing them that they hurt you and that you’re too weak to move on, and frankly, that makes people look pathetic. 

Being the bigger person and forgiving proves that you’re not going to let someone else’s poor decisions affect you, and you’re not going to give them the satisfaction of letting whatever it was that they did weigh down on you for the rest of your life.