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How Forgiveness Unlocks Your Mind And Body
The science behind why you need to forgive and not hold grudges
Stories of forgiveness are ubiquitous — a father forgives the man involved in his son’s death, or the mother forgives the people who murdered her daughter.
From time to time, we hear stories of people forgiving those who have wronged them in the most unkind ways. And we struggle to understand why people who have been mistreated choose to forgive their offenders.
Take the story of an Iranian mother, Samereh Alinejad.
Samerah, along with hundreds of Iranians, had gathered near the prison where her son’s killer Bilal Abdullah, was to be executed.
Abdullah murdered her son in a street feud.
But a few minutes before the execution, Samerah moved through the crowd to where her transgressor was to be killed and slapped him across the face as she burst into tears.
It was like all the rage in her heart vanished and she asked to remove the noose around his neck.
There, she spared the life of her son’s murderer and Abdullah was set free.
Why do we forgive people who have hurt us? Why do we forgive and accept back a partner who mistreated us?
