Existential Psychology

Letting Go Of Negative Feelings

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Many of us think of the ability to let go of negative feelings, to forgive those who have wronged us, to unburden ourselves of our anger, as saintlike. We see the nobility in these acts but don’t believe we’re capable of them, so we hang onto that bitterness and resentment.

But there is a more practical reason for letting go of negative feelings, one that could almost be called selfish, and it’s simply that you feel a lot better when you unburden yourself. You’re the one who has to be around yourself twenty-four hours a day, not the people you are bitter towards, and that negativity eats away at you, really affecting the quality of your life.

It’s almost like wearing a heavy backpack around everywhere you go, not realizing that you could take it off at any moment and instantly feel free and light. In this sense, the primary reason for letting go of the negativity is to help yourself.

All you really need to do is decide that whatever wrongs you suffered in the past, your goal is happiness and this happiness is incompatible with all the negative feelings that you have been holding onto. Like we said, you are the one who has to be around yourself, not the people who are the targets of your rancor, and with this simple realization you might just decide it’s time to put that negative energy aside and focus instead on cultivating relationships defined by positivity.