Holding onto a grudge isn’t the same as winning a battle. More often than not, the other person has already processed the situation and moved on. By refusing to surrender, you're only hurting yourself. Conversely, surrendering is the first step toward healing and inviting peace into your life. Today, let’s explore why letting go is essential and how to achieve it. The Pitfalls of Holding On Holding onto grudges and negativity can have far-reaching impacts on your social life. Not only can it damage your relationship with the other person, but it can also cause negativity to spill over into other relationships, making you more defensive and less able to build new connections. From a mental health perspective, clinging to grudges and negativity can lead to: increased stress, irritability and hostility, depression, and low self-esteem. The physical toll is significant as well. Elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, due to prolonged stress can result in: high blood pressure, compromised immune function, poor heart health, weight gain or loss, muscle pain and weakness, and arthritis. Steps to Letting Go Your mindset is crucial for letting go. How you perceive the situation will determine your success. In cases involving severe mental health issues or trauma, professional help might be necessary. Here are five ways to guide you through the process: Acceptance Acceptance is the first and perhaps most crucial step in the journey to letting go. It involves acknowledging the reality of the situation without denial or resistance. Acceptance doesn't mean agreeing with or condoning what happened; it simply means recognizing the situation for what it is. This step allows you to confront the facts head-on, rather than getting lost in what-ifs or regrets. By accepting the situation, you free yourself from the mental struggle of trying to change what cannot be changed. This clarity is the foundation upon which healing can begin, as it allows you to move forward with a realistic understanding of your circumstances. Redefine Surrender Surrender is often misunderstood as a sign of weakness or defeat, but in the context of personal growth and healing, it is quite the opposite. Redefining surrender means recognizing it as an act of self-empowerment. When you surrender, you are not giving up or admitting failure; you are choosing to release the burden of resentment and negativity. This shift in perspective allows you to see surrender as a victory over your inner turmoil. By letting go, you reclaim your peace and well-being, breaking free from the chains of past grievances. Surrender becomes a powerful declaration that you will no longer allow the past to dictate your present or future. Practice Empathy Empathy involves putting yourself in someone else’s shoes to understand their feelings, thoughts, and perspectives. Practicing empathy doesn’t mean excusing harmful behavior, but it helps you comprehend the factors that may have led to the situation. This understanding can soften your heart and reduce feelings of anger or resentment. Empathy allows you to see beyond your own pain and recognize the humanity in others, fostering a sense of compassion. This compassionate view can make the process of letting go more manageable, as it shifts your focus from blame to understanding, creating a pathway toward forgiveness and emotional freedom. Avoid Blame Blame is a natural but counterproductive response to hurt. It keeps you stuck in a cycle of anger and resentment, preventing healing and growth. Avoiding blame involves taking a step back to objectively analyze the situation, recognizing that it often involves complex factors and multiple perspectives. Taking responsibility for your own actions and reactions, without self-criticism, is crucial. This doesn’t absolve others of their wrongdoing but rather empowers you to focus on what you can control. By releasing the need to blame, you shift your energy toward constructive actions that promote healing and personal development. Feel Your Emotions Suppressing emotions can lead to increased stress and mental health issues. Allowing yourself to fully experience your emotions is essential for healing. Feel your emotions without judgment; acknowledge them as valid responses to your experiences. It’s important to understand that emotions are transient and do not define you. Utilize healthy coping mechanisms such as journaling, talking to a trusted friend, or engaging in creative activities to process these feelings. By facing your emotions head-on, you can work through them constructively, preventing them from festering and leading to long-term psychological and physical health issues. This emotional honesty is a critical step in the process of letting go and finding peace. How Long Does It Take? Healing is a personal journey, varying from person to person. Some may find peace within a week, while others might take years. Patience is crucial. Remind yourself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how distant it may seem. Work on letting go daily. Instead of seeing it as a chore, view your practice as an opportunity for relaxation and personal growth. Thank you for reading folks. Take care out there and continue becoming the best version of yourself. Richard Check out the Resources from the FM Storefront FREE FM Articles on Forgiveness Other Readings on the subject: Image from Pexels.com
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If we want is to live a happy, healthy life and achieve our goals, then we will need to pay attention to our mental health. Let’s not wait until we find ourselves seriously struggling mentally or facing a diagnosed illness. Ignoring our mental health can play havoc on our everyday lives. It can drain our energy, motivation, focus and our concentration, and increase our stress. If left unchecked, it can lead to more deeper issues like anxiety and depression. Here are five ways that will help us keep mentally fit.
1. Stress Management You know sometimes we don’t even realize how much stress affects our daily lives. Continuous stress builds up over time and slowly we find we are not sleeping well, skimping on our diet, or living in a state of fog. Living under stress can lead us to fatigue, hair loss, muscle pain, weight changes, infertility and a negative approach to life. Certainly we can’t cut out every stressful situation in our lives. However, we can learn to let go of what we can’t control and mitigate those things that do cause us stress. For example, we can’t control how busy our office gets at certain times or how other people act. These situations may agitate us. When we feel that way, we can take a time out and focus on something else, preferably a happy though, a positive affirmation, or just smile at the situation. 2. Get Regular Exercise Exercise is not only good for our bodies it is also good for our minds. A simple thing like scheduling a short workout to start our day will pay dividends in lifting our mood and spirit. A 20-minute cardio routine is a perfect way to kick off the day. Studies show that brisk ten-minute walk three times a day is as healthy as a 30 to 45 minutes workout. 3. Go Unplugged These days it is so easy to be constantly connected. Our phones are practically tethered to our hands. Often, we turn to it and unconsciously open a social media app. Before we know it, we’ve wasted 15-minutes scrolling aimlessly. Not only that, we are jarred into reviewing the latest breaking news which in turn triggers an avalanche of emotions that seems to be outpouring from all corners of the world. Suddenly, we are caught in that avalanche and we feel our emotions escalating to a higher pitch. That’s just for starters. That doesn’t even take into account how we interrupt ourselves to look at a notification or attempt to multi-task. Always being connected encourages plenty of bad habits. Let’s do ourselves a major favor and unplug for a few hours or maybe for a whole day. Can we take the plunge and just put our phones on the “do not disturb’ mode, and spend our day untethered? Hey, we may find that we are re-engaging with people face to face, communicating with others, and enjoying nature. Isn’t that novel? 4. Walk Away It doesn’t matter what we’re dealing with it’s important to understand when to walk away (or take a break) from a situation. It’s easy to stick at it and give in to frustration, but a short break can make all the difference. 5. Make Healthy Choices What do you do when you feel hunger pains in the mid-afternoon? Do you wander over to the vending machine and grab a candy bar or a bag of chips? Perhaps, you brought a snack with you, but it’s not much better for you than what you found in the vending machine. By making a simple healthy choice in times like this, we can positively influence our mental health. The best thing to do is to choose a snack that’s low on the Glycemic index, offers plenty of fiber and moderate protein. This helps us regulate our appetite. For example, take a small handful of raw nuts or a piece of cheese and top it off with a piece of fruit is more healthy for us. What we are attempting to do here is to train our brain to get the same pleasure from healthy choices as it does to the junk it’s become accustomed to. Achieve this one dietary behavior at a time. Oh, and don’t forget to drink plenty of water! It may not be easy to follow the tips above, especially if you are struggling with a mental health episode. However, once you start taking steps to apply some of the changes suggested you will see the difference in how you feel. Others will notice, too. We all experience mental health struggles from time to time, but these five tips can help us stay on track in improving our mental health. Thank you for Reading |
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