Why Practicing Forgiveness is Important

1. Take your time to process anger and hurt

It’s the easiest thing in the world to just blow up at someone and deal with the fallout later. Humans are naturally reactionary – particularly when we’re running on lack of sleep, gallons of caffeine, and one granola bar for the day.

Unfortunately, we’re also likely to say things that we don’t mean when we don’t process our anger and understand how we’re really feeling. If you take the time to think about the situation and process what’s happening, you’ll get to the root of the problem much faster.

2. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes

Now that might be easier said than done when talking about your contracts professor who assigned you 8 cases for Friday’s class, or the partner that made you work four weekends in a row. However, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can help you see the other perspective.

When you’re hurt or angry, the last thing you want to do is sympathize with the person who upset you. Yet every single person in your life is going through something, whether they’re vocal about it or not. Taking the time to see their side will help you cool off and will likely make it easier to talk to the person about the issue later on.

3. Talk it out or write it out in a journal

It takes a village to get you through law school or your legal career, but there are some things that you might not feel comfortable sharing with your friends or family. Sometimes it’s those exact people that are frustrating you or hurting your feelings.

Writing out your thoughts in a journal can help you grow emotionally and focus on positivity. It’s important to have an outlet for your emotions where you won’t feel judged or embarrassed to feel the way you’re feeling.

4. Leave it in the past

When someone wrongs you, all you want to do is hold on to that anger and dwell on it. Don’t! There is absolutely no benefit to churning angry emotions over and over in your head, that will only distract you from your day to day activities and put you in an awful mood.

Be willing to talk to whoever is upsetting you, or work through upsetting emotions and then leave them behind. This may be the hardest thing for you to do, but in the long run, you’ll be happier for it.