快乐源自宽容

爱思英语编者按：联合国一项报告显示：宽容的人比其他人更健康更快乐。人与人相处，交往很重要的是学会站在他人角度体谅他人。

The UN"s report Forgiveness, which looks at the psychological research into the subject, cites studies showing the importance of forgiving within personal relationships, as well as between war-torn nations. It makes you healthier and happier, the research says; it makes you feel stronger – it was Mahatma Gandhi who said, "Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong" – and better about yourself. Holding a grudge is bad for your blood pressure (no surprises there), causes anxiety and can reduce your life expectancy. It affects you and not them – the offender has probably forgotten all about what"s making you bitter and twisted.

In relationships, couples who forgive each other are happier than those who don"t – and happier couples are in any case more likely to forgive each other than those who have been making each other miserable for years.

But forgiving – as well as being dull compared with revenge – is by no means easy. Forgiveness experts define it as a process that results in your losing the desire to retaliate and letting go of negative emotions. You can forgive but not be reconciled to the person you are forgiving. You can forgive without telling them. No wonder it"s not easy: the International Forgiveness Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a forgiveness model with 20 steps.

One of the world"s experts on forgiveness is Frank Fincham of Florida State University. "Forgiving brings you peace and closure," he says. "But it takes time. It"s more accurate to say to someone, "I will try to forgive you." To say you"ll forgive and forget is a contradiction. You can forgive only when you remember."更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

So how do you forgive? First think about the benefits (no obsessing over how upset you are, no more feeling anxious or put upon), then about things you might have done wrong (no one is perfect); revisit what happened, seeing if you can understand your reaction and why the other person might have behaved in the way they did. As Fincham says, "It"s a free choice to forgive or not, but you can usually make a cost benefit analysis for it."

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