Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer: Forgiveness, step 10 – managing stress

Old home movie film reels
Can we lean to stop replaying the old tapes in our past? (Photo: Lorie Sheffer)

 

The tenth step in our way to learning to let go and forgive is to understand all the ways we carry anger, trauma and pain.

We carry it physically as well as emotionally.

There’s an old saying, “Hurt people hurt.” When we carry pain and resentment, we will often lash out and become angry, hurtful people.

A recent study at Temple University Hospital, led by Domenico Practico, MD, Professor of Pharmacology and Microbiology, found strong evidence that “stress is an environmental factor that looks like it may play a very important role in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Stress is something we can learn to manage. We can’t always remove or change the source of the stress, but we can change how we react to it.

We need to be aware of the same old tapes we play over and over again in our minds. A staggering 98% of the thoughts we have today are the same ones we had yesterday. When those thoughts are negative, no wonder we feel bad.

We can retrain our brains to let go of those negative old thoughts and replace them with new, positive thoughts and memories.

Everyone at some time in his or her life has been hurt, disappointed or betrayed. We aren’t alone in feeling disappointment and pain.  We owe it to ourselves and to those around us to learn to put down those negative thoughts and step away toward happiness.

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By jeff noel

Retired Disney Institute Keynote Speaker and Prolific Blogger. Five daily, differently-themed personal blogs (about life's 5 big choices) on five interconnected sites.