Learn the Secret Power of Forgiveness

Update: 2023-10-11

Description

In this episode of The Optimistic American, Paul Johnson sits down with Dr. Emily Bashah to discuss the effects of love and forgiveness on our psychological and physiological well-being. They cover topics like the numerous benefits of forgiving others, lessons from countries who endured genocide, the use of forgiveness, what the research says about forgiveness, and much more.

Paul starts the conversation by describing the research on the physiological and psychological benefits of love and forgiveness.
Learning to forgive is not something you do for someone else's benefit but for your own good.
Emily reveals how non-forgiveness can negatively impact a person's existence.
Paul and Emily go through the research on the similarities between stress and hate-motivated behavior.
Paul shares his thoughts on the stressful nature of American politics and how people can shield themselves from toxic politics.
What the research says about the healing nature of forgiveness and letting go of hate.
Emily believes forgiveness does not mean wrongdoers get away with what they did to you. Forgiveness is choosing to let go of the burden of someone else's wrongdoing.
Paul adds that forgiveness doesn't mean you're a pushover. It means you're ready to accept what happened and are willing to find a way to go on productively with your life.
Emily and Paul discuss the lessons we can learn from Bosnia and Rwanda after their genocides about forgiveness.
Emily highlights why it's not a good idea to let politics or ideologies come in between you and your loved ones.
Paul reveals how freeing it felt when he learned to forgive his political rivals.
According to Paul, forgiveness is self-healing. The act of forgiving someone often leaves you in a better position than the people you forgive.
You don't have to give up on your values to forgive someone. You can be kind to them even though they're not treating you with the utmost kindness.
Emily reveals how she focuses on understanding the other person before seeking to be understood when disagreements arise.
For Paul, we live in an unfortunate environment where there is a daily barrage of negative news telling us who we should hate. This hate is creating a prolonged exposure to stress and is damaging our health and our society.