Our addictions have a lot to do with the relationship we have with our emotions, how we relate to our emotions, process them and release them. Many of us struggle with holding onto anger, sometimes for years at a time, if not our entire lives. When we have such a strong attachment to it that we aren’t able to let it go, or when we aren’t able to express it in healthy ways, the negativity can impact our energy and make us increasingly stressed and unhappy. This can cause us to want to seek refuge from our anger in our addictions. Forgiveness can help us to soothe that anger and comfort ourselves when we are hurting, because anger can be destabilizing and painful. Forgiveness can also help us find ways to express and process our anger in ways that are healthier and more productive than reacting harshly, lashing out, or becoming spiteful.

When we are able to manage our anger in ways that feel better to us, we are less consumed with the pain and bitterness that can accompany it. Working to forgive help us with this. Choosing to have forgiveness for others doesn’t mean we allow them to keep hurting us. It doesn’t mean we condone harmful behavior. Forgiveness doesn’t ask that we maintain the same cycles that were hurting us. It asks instead that we break the cycles of revenge, retribution and spite that escalate our anger. When we are able to approach whatever is angering us with calm and grace, our minds are clearer and we are more balanced, making it easier to focus on solutions to the problem. Our attachment to anger can cause us to focus all our energy on the problem itself, which only worsens it and causes it grow and fester. Forgiveness is like the balm that can soothe all of that.

Choosing to forgive is choosing to focus on having compassion for the pain that caused the person to hurt us. We can choose to accept and surround the whole situation with forgiveness. It can help to meditate on sending love and forgiveness to whoever hurt us, and one way we can do this is by visualizing that energy as a beam of light we are sending to that person. We can allow this light to fill us up, and then fill them up, connecting us in the spirit of forgiveness. The less attached we are to holding onto our anger, the less likely we are to want to numb our pain and self-medicate with our addictions. The more we feel we have control over our anger, the more we can focus on our recovery and not let our anger derail our progress.

Our treatment programs include various kinds of therapy to help you deal with anger and any other difficult emotions that arise. Call 888-570-7154 for more information.